


Saving a Wild Lion

by Big_Honkin_Soup



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Byleth saves dimitri's life, Canon-Typical Violence, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd Needs a Hug, Eventual Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/ My Unit | Byleth, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Female My Unit | Byleth, I don't even proof read, Or you can just skip right to it, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Serious Injuries, Slow Burn, Spoilers, The Smut is completely Skippable though, Verdant Wind route, Wounds, almost dead dimitri, dimitri does not know how to handle his own emotions, i wont judge, idk how long this is going to be, im sorry, no beta we die like Glenn, two virgins trying their best, wounded dimitri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:20:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 30,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23291599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Big_Honkin_Soup/pseuds/Big_Honkin_Soup
Summary: After an intense battle with the Empire and what's left of the Kingdom, Claude and Byleth lead the army to rest for the night, wondering what happened to Dmitri after the battle and expecting the worst. Hilda gives them some shocking news that Dmitri is still alive and Byleth nurses him back to health.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 55
Kudos: 216





	1. Chapter 1

“What are our losses?” Byleth askes Claude with a heavy heart.

“Not many dead, but a lot of people were injured with that one. Lysithea and Ignatz both have some pretty bad wounds, not to mention the students we picked up from the Blue Lions, well I guess I shouldn’t call them students or Blue Lions anymore.” Claude replies.

They had just finished an intense fight with Edelgard and her forces, along with Dimitri and his, at the sight of the Battle of the Eagle and Lion from 5 years ago. They were aware that an army flying the Blaiddyd flag was approaching, but they had hoped the army wouldn’t have fought them or perhaps they wouldn’t arrive on time for the battle. It was a bit shocking to see it was truly Dimitri leading the former Blue Lions, after all the world thought him dead. 

Byleth was relieved that she could convince the former students to join them instead of having to take their lives, many of them wishing to get their own revenge on the Adrestian Empire or simply having nowhere else to go. Unfortunately Dedue was determined to carry out Dimitri’s wish to kill Edelgard and Byleth could not sway him to join their forces. 

Claude and Byleth were currently leading their army back to the campsite for the night, they were in no shape to go much further until at least a night of rest. Their medics were swamped with the amount injured and their soldiers weavery after a long battle. 

“I wish we could have convinced Dedue to join us, his strength would have been a great thing to have on our side.” 

“I’m sure you will find a way to manage without his strength Claude, you are beyond smart enough to figure it out.” Byleth replied.

“No one has found Dimitri’s body or knows where he ran off to. I hope he’s giving Edelgard hell right about now, though he looked like hell himself.”

Byleth couldn’t help but feel deep sorrow thinking about Dimitri. The man she saw on the battlefield and the student she helped instruct were two completely different people, she wasn’t sure what happened to Dimitri in those 5 years, but there was no doubt he had suffered greatly. 

“I’d rather not think about Dimitri.” Byleth said, looking down to the ground. “How about after we get back to camp and take care of what we need to I show you that card game my dad and I used to play all the time. We keep talking about getting around to playing but we never actually do. I could use the distraction.”

“Same. My mind has done nothing but go over plans and stress about the war. I could use an evening. We find some barrels of ale or something for the soldiers and try to lift everyone's spirits.” He smiled at Byleth, though there was much sadness in his expression.

***

Everyone had just about settled in for the evening. Byleth was currently talking to patients in the infirmary and doing anything she could to help. She talked to Felix and Ingrid there, both of whom had bad injuries. Felix had a large gash in his side and lost a lot of blood while Ingrid had broken a couple ribs and one of her arms. A couple more people Byleth recognized had stopped by for less serious injuries and Mercedes was lending her hand in the infirmary. 

After helping about for almost another hour, Byleth decided it was time to grab some dinner and play that game of cards with Claude. The food that night was a vegetable stew with some almost stale bread and overall was bland at best. Oh how she missed the food served at the monastery. 

She found Claude eating dinner off by himself, seemingly lost in thought. “There you are.” He gestured to the seat across from himself. “I was about to go look for you if you had taken much longer.”

“Sorry, the infirmary was busy and they needed some help, Mercedes offered as well. I am relieved nothing bad has happened to her over the years.”

“Me too, she was always very nice. I found a deck of cards and already have two barrels of mead out for the soldiers. Let’s start.”

Byleth had just finished explaining the rules and was dealing out the first hand when Hilda walked over, her expression made Byleth’s stomach drop.

“Um Claude.”

“Oh there you are Hilda! Where have you been all evening?” 

“Well about that. There’s something you need to see. You too Professor. It’s urgent.” 

Hilda started to head off and they both followed, exchanging a quick worried glance. She led them to the far left side of the camp. Not many soldiers were around and tents were far less dense, some people preferring distance from the rest of the army. Hilda led them straight for one of the tents.

“I’ll join you in a minute. You two should head in first, then we can talk.”

Claude and Byleth exchanged another look and went in together. There, laying on the ground, was Dimitri.


	2. Chapter 2

Dimitri seemed almost peaceful. He was unconscious and all the worry in his face had relaxed away. His hair was matted with blood and his clothes were torn to shreds. There were crude bandages wrapped around most of his body. His breath was shallow and hoarse, but he was still breathing.

Byleth and Claude stood in shock for a moment before Hilda entered the tent as well.

“I was curious where he went off to so I followed his trail. He was always nice to me back in the academy and I had to see for myself what happened to him. I stumbled upon him after sometime and found he was still breathing. I got some soldiers to help me carry him back and got you guys. The soldiers are still outside, I asked them to wait.”

Byleth immediately replied, “He needs medical help, right away.” And she started to move towards the door when Claude caught her arm.

“I agree, he needs help immediately, but no one can know he’s here. Not right now, not until I’ve thought this over. I don’t know how everyone will react or how the Empire will if word reaches them. Get Marianne and tell no one else. Same to you Hilda. No one can know for now. I’ll talk to the soldiers who helped out. Did anyone see you taking him here?”

“No, no one was over here at the time, it must have been the beginning of dinner.” Hilda replied.

Byleth quickly left to go find Marianne, who had just finished helping tend to a soldier in the infirmary. Byleth asked her to follow her and she quickly agreed, also promising to keep what she was about to see a secret for the time being.

They made it back in good time and found Claude and Hilda waiting outside the tent for them. They entered and Marianne gasped a bit at the sight. Hilda quickly explained what had happened and asked her to help him out. Marianne immediately got to work, giving orders to Claude and Hilda to retrieve several items she would need and asked Byleth to stay with her to help. Byleth couldn’t help but feel a little proud of how confident in herself Marianne had become after 5 years. 

“Professor, help me remove these bandages and what’s left of his clothes. We need to properly clean his wounds before I can heal him. There seems to be a lot of dried blood, so be careful. I am sure he does not have much blood left to spare.”

They slowly began to unwrap his body and Byleth was shocked at how many scars littered his body. They were able to remove most things with little to know problems, only causing him to bleed once on his arm where his shirt clung to a clot. Claude returned right as they were almost finished, with him a bucket, several rags, and a blanket.

“Great. I’ll lay the sheet out and you two pick him up and place him there.”

They followed Marianne’s instructions, moving Dimitri as carefully as they could. 

“Ok, now Claude can you go get us a couple more light weight blankets, oh a pillow for his head. We might also need some fresh water as well.”

Claude headed out to find the supplies and Marianne instructed Byleth some more. “Start to clean his head, there seems to be a wound there but his hair is too matted for me to see what’s going on.” She then started to clean his torso while Byleth moved to begin with her task. 

His hair was a mess, dirt and blood matted the majority of it, mainly on the right side. Hilda stopped by to drop off some medical supplies Marianne requested and then headed out for the night. After cleaning for a bit, Marianne would stop, use some magic to help him heal, then wrap the wound in a bandage. After Byleth finished cleaning his hair they could see he had a bad gash running along the right side of his head, starting above his ear and ending almost at the nape of his neck. Claude dropped off the supplies he was sent to get and informed them to get him after they were done bandaging him up. They finished up his arms and legs and carefully cleaned his back as well, with Byleth holding him up so Marianne could work. 

After finally finishing, they double checked their work and placed him on a sleeping pallet that was covered in a fresh blanket, laying another blanket over him and propping his head up slightly with a pillow.

“How long until he wakes up?” Byleth askes Marianne.

“I am uncertain. It depends on what caused him to pass out and if he heals smoothly or not. Infection is a big problem out here and he has a lot of wounds. Also I would like to formally apologize for ordering you around earlier.” She said the last part with a little bow of her head.

“It’s nothing to apologize for Marianne. You led us well. I’ll go fetch Claude like he asked. If you need a soldier for any reason, make sure they don’t leave until Claude speaks with them. We are trying to keep Dimitri a secret.” and with that Byleth finds Claude and brings him back over.

“Well, he looks much better. Marianne, I am in your debt. Oh, and of course you as well Teach, although for more than just this as this point. We need someone to watch over him while he heals. Last thing I want is him to wake up and start rampaging through camp. While it would be ideal for him for you, Marianne, to stay with him, your services are put to much better use over at the infirmary. That leaves me with several options, I could of course stay but it goes without saying that my time is better spent elsewhere, gotta lead an army in a war after all. So, my options go from several to just a couple. The more ideal one is for you to watch over him.” Claude says and looks at Byleth. 

“Won’t everyone realize I’m missing?”

“Yes, they probably will. However, lately you’ve been feeling a bit under the weather, but toughing it out. After the exertion of battle, your body has finally given in to a sickness and you are bed ridden for the time being. I moved you to a tent away on the edge of the camp so less people are likely to catch it from you. Marianne is the only one allowed to check up on you, once in the morning and evening, if you catch my drift with all this. I might stop by as well, but I’m a special case as always.” He adds a wink with the last sentence. “So, Marianne, Byleth, what do you think?”

Marianne agrees to the idea, however she can fit only an evening check up in with her schedule. Byleth ponders over the idea. She wants to help Dimitri but she also wants to help with the war and feels it's part of her responsibility to be there for the army. 

“I know that look Teach. I am asking a lot of you and before you fully make up your mind, I don’t really have anyone else I can truly trust this job to. I know you will keep this confidential and I also know you are strong enough to subdue him if need be. I’ll check in as often as I can and keep you up to date on everything that's happening, even let you know what you can do from here. We are only camping for another two days, then on the third we march back to Garreg Mach. After that, He won’t need constant supervision.”

Byleth looked over at Dimitri. His breathing was still rugged, but he looked a lot better than when she first saw him again. She never was that close with Dimitri, he was in a different class so she didn’t teach him all that often. Outside of class he was always busy, mainly training. She did have tea with him one time on his birthday and he was pleasantly surprised she served some Chamomile, she had asked Dedue what his favorite tea was. The whole time Dimitri was a joy to be around, very courteous and kind. They talked for longer than originally planned and agreed to meet up again. That promise was never fulfilled with everything that happened. 

“I will watch over him.”


	3. Chapter 3

Marianne gave her instructions on taking care of Dimitri, mainly changing his bandages at least three times a day for now, but as often as they needed to be. If he does wake up, she was supposed to try to keep him calm and prevent him from moving. Claude brought her everything she would need for the time beings, her belongings and something to sleep on. He would bring her food for the day and reminded her that this was a temporary arrangement and how grateful he was that she agreed to watch over Dimitri. 

By the time everything was prepared, it had already started to get dark and Claude bid her a goodnight, leaving Byleth alone in the tent with Dimitri. She looked over at him, wondering what happened to him in those long 5 years she was missing. She moved over and sat down next to him, hugging her knees up to her chest. She thought back to the battle, remembering the look upon Dimitri’s face. He seemed so… wild and angry, like a lion chasing its prey. She was glad that she didn’t have to actually cross swords with him on the battlefield. She knew deep down that it would have ended with Dimitri’s death by her hands. She hated the thought and felt twice as lucky she didn’t have to kill any former students so far, pushing the thought of Edelgard far away, not wanting to dwell on too many bad thoughts at once. 

She looked back at Dimitri. He looked younger than he had on the battlefield, perhaps because he was asleep or maybe because he was clean, Byleth wasn’t sure. He had matured since his time as a student, his facial features had become more harsh, his eye sunken with a heavy dark circle, and, while he had always been fit, his body was purely muscle and littered with scars. She wondered what happened to his other eye as she brushed a few stray hairs out of his face. 

“I’m sorry Dimitri.” She whispered to him, feeling a sudden overwhelming amount of guilt. “I’m sorry this happened to you. That this happened to everyone. Maybe if I hadn't run off and fallen. If I had noticed that Edelgard was the flame emperor sooner. If I was able to do anything other than hide away asleep for 5 years, then maybe. Maybe… I could have stopped this war. Or at least help it to end a lot sooner than it has. So many less people would be hurt or killed.” She didn’t notice the tears until one landed on her arm and she wondered how long she had been crying. 

She sighed and got up, wiping away the remaining tears and looked through what Claude brought her, trying to find something to occupy the time. She settled on continuing to read a book Hilda had given her about a cursed magician. It was interesting enough and helped Byleth to take her mind off of the real world for a while.

The rest of the night passed by slowly. After a couple hours Byleth felt tired enough to try to get some sleep, so she started to change Dimitri’s bandages, which was going fine until she got to his chest and back. She had to awkwardly hold him up with one arm while trying to rewrap everything and she wished someone was there to help her. She laid the blanket back over Dimitri and settled into her makeshift bed on the other side of the tent, feeling exhausted. 

Sleep did not come easily and she laid awake for what seemed like years, listening to a chorus of frogs screaming in the woods nearby and the slow sound of Dimitri’s breathing, which had evened out. When she did finally manage to drift off, her sleep was restless, filled with bad dreams and she found it hard to stay in a comfortable position, wishing for the soft mattresses of Garreg Mach.

She awoke to the sounds of hustle and bustle from the army outside the tent and the sun shining through the thin canvas material of the tent. Byleth laid there for a few minutes, forgetting where she was and wishing to be asleep still. She turned onto her side and spotted Dimitri, remembering the events of the previous day. She reluctantly got up and kneeled down next to Dimitri to check on him. His breathing was heavy, his cheeks were flushed, and he seemed to be sweating. Carefully she laid the back of her hand against his forehead, noting that his skin felt very hot. 

“That’s not a good sign. Well, it seems you have a fever on top of everything else.” She let out a somewhat dramatic sigh and grabbed a rag, dunking it in the clean water bucket she had and then laying it across his forehead. She carefully started to change his bandages again, looking closely for signs of infection and found that the gash along his head was not looking too good. 

Just as she was finishing up, Claude opened the tent and ducked in. “How is everything?”

“Could be better. He seems to have a fever and the wound on his head is probably infected.”

“Well, that isn’t ideal. I’ll bring you some salve from the infirmary in a bit. I brought you some food for the day.”

He handed her a bowl filled with warm soup and set down a small sack of food for her lunch and dinner. She gratefully accepted and began to eat, noting the soup actually tasted pleasant. 

“You eat and I’ll be right back.” Claude grabbed the small pile of old bandages and bucket of dirty water and left the tent, returning after a few minutes with more fresh bandages, some fresh water, and a small thing of salve. 

Byleth set down her soup and reached for the salve. “No, my friend. You eat and I’ll take care of His Royal Kingliness.” Claude told her almost firmly. She felt too tired to try to argue with him and picked her soup back up and watched as Claude sat next to Dimitri’s head.

He was surprisingly careful as he cleaned Dimitri’s wound, applying a generous amount of the ointment and wrapped him up again carefully. He stood up after he was finished and gave Byleth a small smile, which she returned. 

“What am I going to do all day?” She asked no one in particular.

“Glad you spoke up, I was wondering if you could look these over? Write down any notes or concerns you have.” Claude handed Byleth a small bundle of battle plans. She took them, glad to have a way to help out.

Claude stuck around for a few more minutes before heading off. Byleth spent most of the day reviewing the plans, cursing Claude’s handwriting a couple times but working out what he had written. The plans were daring, taking Fort Merceus and then Enbarr, but overall she approved, leaving her own notes and suggestions alongside what Claude had written. Lunch came and went and she changed Dimitri’s bandages once more, applying more treatment to his head and his fever seemed to have gone down slightly. 

Marianne stopped by midafternoon and spent some time checking over Dimitri and using some healing magic, which seemed to take down his fever a significant amount. She also used this time to check on Byleth, making sure she was ok and spent some time keeping her company, fetching some tea for the both of them. She eventually left and Byleth returned to her book.

It was approaching dinner time when she heard a noise come from Dimitri. She looked over at him and he moved his head slightly, his eyebrows were furrowed and he murmured something. She moved over to sit beside him, curious as to what he was saying and if he was about to wake up. He continued to fidget in his sleep and he muttered a couple words, too incoherent for Byleth to understand. This kept up for a few minutes and he said a couple names, including Glenn. 

“Glenn? Where have I heard that name?” Byleth wondered aloud, then remembered he was Felix’s older brother who was killed a couple years before the war began. Byleth reached out and gently held onto Dimitri’s hand, trying to offer some form of comfort to him, though it probably did little to help him. 

Eventually he settled down and soon it was night again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I got really into writing the second half of this one and I'm probably too tired to write anything good.... whoops

It was towards the late afternoon on the third day. Marianne had just left and Dimitri’s condition seemed to be improving. After another round of healing magic from Marianne, his fever was gone and several of his minor wounds had healed up. The one that gave them the most problems was the one on his head, though some deep ones across his arms and chest were stubborn as well. 

Byleth longed to be able to leave the tent, but had made it this far without breaking, so she refused to give in to the temptation to run outside. She went over more battle plans and finished the book Hilda gave her and currently was doing some workouts she could manage in such a confined space. 

She stopped abruptly when she noticed Dimitri’s head moving again. She moved to sit next to him and heard a low noise escape his throat, his head rolling to one side. She watched his face, looking to see if he would talk in his sleep again when he made another low groan and his eye slowly blinked open.

“Where… am I?” His voice was gravely and he let out another groan, moving one of his hands to clutch at a wound on his side.

“Dimitri, you need to stay still, ok?”Byleth, trying to gently move his arm back to a neutral position, which he let her do.

“Pr… professor?” Dimitri asked, the amount of confusion he felt was evident by the look on his face as he looked at Byleth. “I must be dead.”

“You almost were, but you are safe now. We are taking care of you.” Byleth didn’t know exactly what made her want to comfort him so much, so she decided not to question it and lightly picked up one of his hands in between hers.

Dimitri let out a pained forced laugh and started to speak again, only getting out “I… doubt…” before drifting back to sleep once again. 

Byleth wasn’t sure how long she sat beside him, feeling the same hollow sadness and guilt that plagued her lately. She spent the rest of the night next to him until she retired to her bed to try to get some sleep after his night bandage change. He didn’t wake up again, but his sleep was restless and there were times when his whole body would jerk and Byleth wondered what nightmares went through his head.

The morning was uneventful except for all of the commotion outside. ‘Oh right. Today is the day we march back’ Byleth remembered. Claude joined her to bring her some food and let her know that she was going to ride with Dimitri in a cart at the back of the army. She agreed though she really wanted to spend the march back talking to her former students. Claude could tell she was down about the news, so he said he’d get Hilda to ride with her, which brightened her face up slightly. 

They began their march shortly after, Byleth waited for most of the army to clear out before beginning to transfer into the cart. She was helped by two select guards and Hilda soon joined her. Together they set Dimitri in the back along with all they would need to keep him stable during the trip and soon they were off, Byleth and Hilda riding in the back with Dimitri while the two guards drove the cart.

During the long trip back, Hilda and Byleth chatted, Hilda telling Byleth about the gossip being spread around about her.

“Some people don’t buy that you are ‘sick’ and instead have been creating their own stories about you. One of my favorites is that you and Claude were caught up in an intense love affair when he found you with another man, disposing of you out of rage and is using an illness as a cover up and will claim you died from it. How ridiculous!”

Byleth felt a slight blush pink her cheeks at the thought. While she did think Claude was a handsome and good man, her feelings towards him were platonic and she valued their friendship too much to even ponder the idea of being with him.

“Rest assured, professor. I try to clear up any rumors I can. Oh another good one was that you are secretly working on a weapon of mass destruction that will take down the empire in one swoop!”

Byleth chuckled a little at that one and looked at Dimitri. “Well, if he got what he wanted they wouldn’t be too far off.”

The army made good time, getting back to Garreg Mach as the last rays of sunshine were fading away. Dimitri remained unconscious the whole ride and gave them no troubles. 

Claude met them as they got back, directing them down a seldom used path.

“We are going to keep him in a room down in Abyss. Hopefully everything will go smoothly and he will cooperate when he wakes up, but from the stories I’ve heard about him… well let’s just hope for the best.”

Yuri joined them at the entrance and they carried Dimitri through a couple secret pathways to a small room that had been prepared. In it was a simple bed, night stand, and table. Several guards were posted to keep watch and a nurse was assigned to him, all of them swearing an oath of secrecy. Not much was left to be done so Byleth bid everyone a farewell and made her way back to her room, longing for the comfort of her bed. 

Several days had passed since returning to the monastery and Byleth was busier than ever. She was finally caught up catching up with everyone and went right back into the swing of things, teaching lessons and working with her students to train them one on one. Everyone was glad she was feeling better and life was returning to what had become the normal over the past few months. The only difference was a small nagging in the back of her mind about Dimitri. She still hadn’t checked up on him as she never seemed to have the time, so on the 4th evening back, she decided to sneak over to him.

She followed the instructions Yuri had left her, winding through several tunnels before seeing the two guards stationed outside of a door. She had arrived.

“Hello. I am here to visit.” She informed a guard.

“Yes ma’am. Before you do, though, prepare yourself. He’s been very… uncooperative.” 

Byleth felt a bit puzzled by that and realized Dimitri must have woken up, which would only make sense given the amount of time. She took a deep breath before entering the room. 

Inside the room was a mess. The nightstand looked like it had been thrown at one of the walls, one of its sides busted in and a drawer laying across the room from it. The table was turned on its side and the blankets that once laid on the bed were scattered about. Sitting on the bed with his back against the wall and head down was Dimitri in a pair of simple trousers.

He seemed to have been healing decently. Most of the bandages were removed, leaving fresh scars in their places. The one around his head, one around his arm, and one around his chest remained. His knuckles were bruised and slightly bloody.

“Dimitri?” Byleth called out to him quietly. 

He looked up at her, laughing cruelly to himself. “Another ghost come to haunt me? Or are you the Angel of Death, here to finally take my soul?” He asked her harshly.

Byleth moved over to him, standing in front of where he sat, she felt like his gaze was burning a hole into her. “Dimitri, it’s me. Byleth. I wanted to check in on you.”

“Ha. ‘Byleth’. Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in years. I don’t know how you are alive, or why the gods chose you of all people to bring back to me, yet here you are.”

Byleth tried not to let such a low blow get to her, instead taking a deep breath, suppressing any emotions to deal with later. “Can I check your bandages?”

“I don’t care what you do.” He said with a snarl.

Byleth tentative sat on the bed next to him, his body tensing with her proximity. She started with his arm first, peering at his bicep and seeing if the bandage was clean enough. He was healing nicely there, but his bandage could be changed. Next, she moved her attention to the bandage around his head, which was clear to her that it needed to be changed without close inspection. Next was his chest and she lifted the bandage slightly to peer at his wound there, Dimitri flinching ever so slightly at her touch. This seemed to be the only bandage that didn’t need to be changed. Byleth felt a tinge of annoyance that the nurse had been slacking at her job. 

“Are you going to explain why your knuckles are bleeding?” She asked him, allowing some of the annoyance she felt to come through. Dimitri just remained silent and looked over at one of the walls.

Byleth looked around the room and found a couple fresh bandages in the drawer that had been dislodged, but there was no fresh water. She opened the door and asked one of the guards to fetch some, which he agreed to do and she closed the door again.

“I am assuming you decided to redecorate?” 

Dimitri continued to remain silent, he seemed… hollow. 

Byleth sighed and started to put the room back together, setting the table back on its legs and moving the nightstand back, sliding the drawer into it once more. She shook out the blankets, quickly folding them and setting them on the nightstand. There was a knock on the door and the guard handed Byleth a bucket of clean water. She thanked him and returned to Dimitri. 

“I am going to clean your wounds and replace the bandages, ok?”

Still no response. 

Again, she started with his arm, unwrapping it and took some time to get a good look at it. It wouldn’t be but another day or two before he would no longer need the bandage. She then moved to his head, which she carefully unwrapped. The bandage stuck slightly and Dimitri winced as she used some water to help loosen it. His hair was matted again, a mix of puss and blood which had caused the bandage to stick. ‘Curse this damn gash.’ Byleth thought to herself, trying not to get angry at the nurse. It should not have been this bad, but it was clear that it was not getting cleaned well enough. 

“This is going to take me a couple of minutes to clean properly, it might hurt a little.” 

The only response Byleth got was involuntary winces every now and then while she worked. After she was done it looked much better, the gash had almost closed up and might have been if it hadn’t gotten infected again. At least this time Dimitri seemed to be less affected by the infection, she felt his forehead for a fever and he shot her a glare. He seemed fine.

“Can you sit up? I need to remove the one wrapped around your chest.”

“I do not want to move.” 

She was surprised he answered. “Look, I didn’t nurse you back to life just to have you get an attitude with me while I try to help you out once more. I could have just let you rot.”

“And you should have.”

She was slightly taken back by that answer. “Well I didn’t, so will you stop being so difficult and sit up before I give you another wound, far worse, wound.”

He made a very exasperated noise and did as she asked. Byleth moved closer to him to get a better angle as she started to unwrap the bandage. She was suddenly very aware of his breathing close to her ear, the slight rise and fall of his chest, she was sure if she just leaned forward she would be able to rest her ear on his chest and hear the beating of his heart.

She shook her head slightly, refocusing on the task at hand and wondering where those thoughts had come from. She got the bandage fully off and was pleasantly surprised. The wound had healed up enough and the bandage was no longer needed. She got back off the bed and Dimitri slumped against the wall once more. 

“I’m sorry it has taken me this long to check in on you again. I’m going to have a talk with your nurse about not keeping everything clean enough. Do you have any reasonable requests? I can bring you something nice to eat or something.”

“My only request is that you free me so that I may go cut that head off of that wretched beast of an emperor's shoulders.” Dimitri glared.

“I added reasonable in for a reason. Talk like that will get you nowhere except miserable Dimitri. Well, I’ll stop by again tomorrow to check on you. Until then, have a good night Dimitri.” 

No response. She sighed again and slipped back out the door, starting to fume a little.

“Why hasn’t the nurse been doing her job?” She asked one of the guards.

“Well, ma’am, last time she came by, Dimitri kinda scared her real bad. Um… He kind of yelled at her to stay away from him, so we had to step in to restrain him so she could work and… well he’s a very strong man and he ended up landing a kick on her before she could finish. She ran out and we figured she’d take it up with Duke Riegan if she had any problems.”

“And how long ago was this?”

“Yesterday morning, ma’am.”

“So no one has been by to check on him today?’

“No, ma’am.”

She tried not to take out her anger on the guards, knowing it was not their fault, so instead she took a deep breath and thanked them for their cooperation and for doing their jobs.

She set off to go let Claude know about the situation.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a short interaction between Claude and Dimitri

“So are you going to talk or are you going to continue to stare at the ground until you’re left with a permanent scowl on your face?” Claude crossed his arms, letting some of the annoyance he felt slip through. His eyes carefully watched the broken man before him, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, hunched over and staring at the ground while his hair covered most of his face. 

“Listen Dimitri,” Claude said while sinking down to a knee to get more on Dimitri’s level. “I don’t want to keep you locked up here, far underground and hidden away from the world. In truth, you are an amazing warrior. I’ve heard stories of you taking on whole battalions of men single handedly. I trained with you many years ago, you were strong then and I have no doubt you are five times as strong now. You could help us win against the Empire.” Claude was honest with his words, even if dolled up a bit. “Yet, I have to keep you here, in this room because you refuse to cooperate, even a little. You won’t even have a conversation with me. How am I supposed to trust you on the battlefield? How am I supposed to trust you around my own men, when I saw how you tore through them in a desperate attempt to reach Edelgard? Work with me Dimitri. Cooperate. Talk. Hell, I’ll gladly let you free Edelgard’s head from her shoulders if that buys you-”

“Ha.” Claude was interrupted by a cruel forced laugh from Dimitri. He looked up at Claude, meeting his pleading eyes with a scowl filled of hatred. “You speak as if I need your permission to kill that monster. You don’t wish to work with me, but control me and get in my way, barking orders at me. As if I would stoop low enough to follow the order’s of a duke.” He added an extra bit of emphasis on Claude’s title, following it up by launching a wad of spit onto one of Claude’s boots. 

Claude stood up again, letting himself tower over Dimitri’s hunched over figure, returning his scowl with a nonchalant shrug. “Oh Dimitri. You act as if you are still a king, yet the last I checked your kingdom was in shambles and the last remnants of its people are currently more than happy to follow my orders.” Claude walked over to the other side of the room to pick up a rag, wipe his boot, then cast the rag to the side. Surprisingly the room wasn’t as much of a mess as when he visited the day before, this time only the table was out of place, currently leaning at a strange angle in the corner. 

Claude took a deep breath before turning back to Dimitri, who was still glaring at him. “I was informed you kicked the nurse I had assigned to you. Apparently you also wouldn’t let her take care of your injuries. Byleth said she was able to get a good look at them though.”

Dimitri’s gaze darted to a wall at the mention of Byleth’s name. Claude took note of that before continuing, “Why is it you let Byleth touch you, yet you resort to physical violence when a nurse does the same thing? Should I find someone more gentle? Is that it? Or perhaps you want someone who’s just as beautiful? Or maybe she is rough with you?” Claude watched him closely, earning no response to any of his remarks. 

“I have more important things to go attend to, I’ll ask Byleth to stop by this afternoon to take care of you today, but I’m assigning a new nurse to you for tomorrow. Please be nice to them, or at least put up with them enough for them to do their job and be on with their day. I do mean it when I say I don’t want to keep you locked up down here. Seeing you like this sad at best. Do consider joining me.” 

With that Claude left, not getting very far down the hall before hearing what sounded like wood breaking. He felt his heart sink lower in his chest, letting the sorrow he felt show on his face while no one else was around to look. 


	6. Chapter 6

Byleth was the kind of tired that makes even standing up seem like an impossible task. It had been a long day of training, she mainly focused on working with the former Blue Lions who had just joined, testing their abilities through one on one combat. She was impressed by their skills, each one of them clearly had been through plenty of hard fights in those past five years. 

Her body longed for her to relax in the sauna or even go to sleep early, yet she made her way through the winding tunnels to check on Dimitri once more. When Claude had approached her earlier, Byleth could tell he was disheartened, though he tried to hide it. Claude had asked her to check on him, though she had a feeling she would have found her way back even if he hadn’t requested it. Her heart felt heavier at the thought of him.

She saw the door in the distance, still guarded on either side. As she approached she gripped the strap of the bag she carried around her shoulder, taking in a deep breath to help prepare herself. She greeted the guards with a “Good evening, I hope you are both doing well.”

They nod in response. “Yes ma’am. Thank you. Here to visit again?”

“Yeah, Claude asked me to check up on him. Anything of note happen since yesterday?”

“Not too much ma’am, though it sounded like he was throwing furniture again earlier. His dinner was just delivered not too long ago, so he might be eating now.”

The guard moved to let her in, adding a small “Let us know if you need anything.” before she stepped in.

The scene was quite reminiscent of her last visit. The room was a mess again. The table was now on the left side of the room, laying in a sad broken pile, one of its legs was still on the right side of the room though. The bed had been flipped on its side, its blankets scattered around the room, one torn in half. The nightstand laid pathetically on the front side of it, around the same location the table was supposed to be. The drawers were in various places around the room as well and a serving of today’s dinner sat upon the nightstand. It looked untouched.

Dimitri was sitting against the right wall, his arms rested against his knees and his head hung low in between them. He wore a simple pair of trousers and a plain light shirt and Byleth worried he would get cold this far underground. Then again he did have blankets so she shrugged the thought off. 

She cautiously walked closer to him. “Good evening Dimitri. I came to check in on you and see how you are healing.”

He offered no response.

“How are you feeling? Any particular pain from either wound? Especially if anything about your head feels different. Last I saw it was in pretty rough shape though nothing that can’t be healed.” She tried her best to lessen the tension in the air by trying to sound positive. 

Still no response. She wondered if he might be asleep. “I am going to check on them now.” She let him know as she started to move towards him.

“Do not touch me.” Dimitri glared up at her through his hair. Byleth tried her best to conceal her shock, both at his sudden aggressive anger, but more so because he was missing his eye patch, revealing an intense scar where his right eye once was. She knew something must have happened to his eye, but she just wasn’t expecting to not see his eye patch so suddenly. She collected herself for a brief second and noted that his bandaging around his head was messy, like he had been clawing at it above his temples. 

“I just want to change your bandages and clean the gash on your head. I promise to work swiftly.” 

“I said not to touch me.” His eyebrows furrowed even further together.

“Alright. I will just focus on getting this room back in order for now.” She said, giving him a small smile. She started with the bed, which was a lot lighter than she expected, laying it back on carefully so as to not break one of its legs. She gathered up the blankets, finding Dimitri’s eyepatch laying on the floor, its string broken. She placed it in her bag and started making the bed. She folded one of the throw blankets separate, laying it over her arm. She walked past Dimitri to pick up the table leg that lay near him, feeling his gaze follow her every move. She stooped over to pick it up, then slowly approached Dimitri, who coiled back a bit as she came closer. She gently laid the blanket next to him and went to set the table leg with the rest of the table. Lastly was the nightstand. She set the dinner on the bed for the time being and put the nightstand back where it was supposed to be, the poor thing looked rough, but was still standing.

Byleth picked up the plate of food and walked back over to Dimitri, setting it next to him. She then walked a couple feet to his left and sank to the floor herself, her entire body thanking her for the rest.

“Please eat, Dimitri.”

“Leave me alone.” He growled back.

“And if I refuse?” She questioned him, feeling a tang of regret at such a bold question, worried he might get angry.

He didn’t respond for a while, just stared down at the floor. Eventually he answered, “If I eat, will you leave?”

Byleth thought over her answer before saying “I will leave a lot sooner than if you refuse to eat.”

He let out an exasperated sigh and shifted into a criss cross sitting position, reluctantly picking up the plate of food and started to slowly eat. Byleth smiled at him, though he was not looking at her, and she rested her head against the wall behind her, closing her eyes for a few minutes. She almost drifted off, but the sound of Dimitri setting the plate against the floor woke her up again. 

She looked over a plate, half of the food was still left.

“It’s all I can manage to stomach.” Dimitri said dryly, watching her look at the plate.

“How about we have some tea. I’ll ask one of the guards to fetch us some boiling water.” She moved before Dimitri had time to protest, though he still did. She ignored him, popping her head out to ask one of the guards. While she waited for their return, she worked on handing the other guard the broken pieces of the table. She had the guard simply put them in a pile on the other side so Byleth could take them on her way out. The guard offered to do it for her after their colleague got back, but Byleth refused. 

The other guard returned with a kettle and Byleth thanked him. She set the kettle down on the nightstand and rummaged through her bag, pulling out two tea cups and some tea, quickly preparing everything before she returned to her spot on the wall, this time a bit closer to Dimitri so she could comfortably set his tea next to him.

She brought her close to her face, breathing in the delicate aroma of the Chamomile and enjoying its warmth. She took a sip, letting herself relax as it warmed her up.

“You should at least have one sip.” She said kindly to Dimitri.

He shook his head, staring at something far away. A few moments passed and Dimitri slowly picked up the tea, taking a small sip. He sunk back into the wall a bit, his body finally realising some of the coiled tension he held the whole time Byleth had been there. He clenched his jaw and swallowed hard, looking up at the ceiling.

“It had been many years since I had tea. Just over five in fact.” He seemed to be distant, lost in some memories. Byleth looked over at him, seeing a tear roll down his cheek, followed by a few more. 

She very cautiously moved closer to him, he didn’t seem to notice her. She reached out slowly, very gently taking his left hand in hers. He looked over at her and she could see years of pain in his eye, watched as another tear silently fell. She tried her best to give him a gentle, understanding expression. 

“Dimitri, tell me what’s going on. I’m here to listen. To help you.”

He didn’t reply, turning to stare at the far wall again. They sat in silence together, every now and then taking a small sip of tea. Byleth took this time to observe Dimitri, his hands were more scratched up than the day before, dried blood coated his knuckles and she could tell there was a splinter in the palm of the hand she held between her own. She couldn’t get a good look at the two last wounds left for her to tend to, but she glanced over the ones that were more healed on his left arm. They seemed to be fine.

“Can I change your bandages now?”

He didn’t reply to her, still staring far away. He was no longer crying but still remained distant. She gently set his hand down and stood up, grabbing the kettle and retrieving the bowl and rags left in one of the drawers of the nightstand. She kneeled down on Dimtri’s right and poured some of the water from the kettle into the bowl. She felt the water, making sure it wasn’t too hot, it was slightly warm, which was fine. 

Byleth started to unwrap the bandage around Dimitri’s arm, he hardly noticed her as she worked. She was relieved to see that he wouldn’t need the bandage there any longer, though she still took the time to clean his arm with a rag. 

Next was the gash on his head. She really hoped it was in better shape today and she started to unwrap his head. The bandage was askew, but it still covered the majority of the wound. It looked a least a little better than the previous day from first glance. She gently moved his hair aside to get a better look and he winced a little. There was a lot less puss, but it was an angry red. Looked like it would take a while to fully heal, but if Dimitri allowed a nurse to clean it twice a day, it would heal nicely. She cleaned the gash and closed her eyes, recalling a healing spell Marianne had taught her. She felt the magic flow through her as she cast it. The spell was different from those used on the battlefield. The ones used in combat were quick, the main focus on a temporary heal to keep a soldier going, but the healing magic used for more through healing was long, slow, and exhausting. 

After a few minutes Byleth had to call it quits. Her magic was not as strong as Marianne’s, or even most of the nurses and doctors, but it was something at least. She felt even more drained, her body desperately wishing for sleep. She looked over the wound, glad to see the skin was no longer a bright red. She pulled a fresh bandage from her bag and wrapped it around Dimitri’s head once more.

“I’m afraid that’s all the time I have to spend with you tonight. Please look after yourself Dimitri and please allow the new nurse to take care of you. The less you fight us, the faster your recovery and the less you will have to deal with. My hope is that you won’t have to stay down here too much longer, that you can join us, but Claude doesn’t trust you enough yet… and to be honest I do not blame him. I can tell that a lot plagues your mind and that you are hurting in many ways, but please try to cooperate with us, even if only temporarily.” 

Byleth sighed, not surprised that Dimitri didn’t react to anything she said. She collected the few things she had brought and made her way to the door, glancing behind her to say, “Goodnight, Dimitri. I wish you well until the next time I can see you.” and she made her way out, pretending to not notice that he watched her as she left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to take a brief moment to say thank you to those who have read this so far! I really appreciate the comments and nice words. Sorry for any misspellings or other mistakes and I hope you continue to enjoy!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boy, I struggled with this chapter for a while, rewrote it like 3 times and settled with this. Hopefully its not too bad ':)

Byleth stepped outside onto the balcony, seeing Claude leaning against the railing bathed in the afternoon sunlight as he looked out over the monastery. She could tell from his posture something was bothering him. She walked over, resting her forearms against the stone as well, giving him a bump against his shoulder with her shoulder and a smile. He looked over at her, giving a half-assed attempt at a smile and turning to look out over the monastery once more. 

“Hey, Teach. Thanks for joining me.” He sounded tired, not bothering to put up a facade as he knew Byleth would see through it anyway.

“Of course, Claude. Anytime. So what’s on your mind?”

“It’s about Dimitri…” Claude fell silent for a few moments. Byleth’s mind wondered while she waited for Claude to speak again, it had been a few days since she last saw Dimitri, she hoped he was ok and that he was healing well. It must be so rough on him to say confined to one room. Byleth made up her mind to cancel the afternoon sparring session she had with Hilda and go check on Dimitri again.

“Byleth. I’m torn.” His head fell back, looking up at the blue sky. “He tried to escape yesterday, I can’t blame him. I would too if I were in his shoes. He didn’t make it far but apparently one of the guards got hurt pretty bad. It feels wrong to keep him in that room and I know I have to make a decision, soon.” He turned to look at Byleth. “Either I let him free or I officially make him a war prisoner.”

Byleth felt her stomach drop a bit at the second suggestion, but pushed it aside. “Well, talk to me about your thoughts on both.”

“The thought of Dimitri roaming around free… it… it frightens me in a way. He is incredibly strong, he would make an excellent addition to the army, I once thought of him as a friend, and the moral boost of seeing him alive and well would inspire many of our people, especially those from Faerghus.”

He paused, looking down at his hands. “However, all that said, he is… too much of a variable. I know I cannot fully trust him, but would he even follow any orders from me or would his blind hatred of Edelgard lead him to do whatever he pleased? The path to victory in this war is narrow… I feel like I’m walking on eggshells, every decision seems so important, could I really allow someone so wild and unpredictable free? With the possibility of something going wrong? I have heard stories of how he led his people as king, he did not hesitate to dive head first into deadly battles, leading to many casualties. Ask any one of the former students and they will tell you of a needless injury they have received from his rash decisions. All that said, they are loyal to a fault to Dimitri. If they were to learn he was still alive, would they turn on us to follow him once more? My dream of seeing Fodlan united doesn’t exist with Dimitri as King of Faerghus, keeping Fodlan split. So that leaves me with the option of making him a war prisoner. He’d be moved to a jail cell, something he can’t escape from. I’d be able to control him then, things would go smoothly, less variables. Less stress. But could I live with that decision? Locking him away until after the war, deciding what to do then. It would ruin him, he already is in a bad way with his mental state. Locking him up for good would be the nail in the coffin for him and I would be the man responsible for it. My heart feels like lead at the idea, but if that was the only way, I would not hesitate. If you believed it would be best, I would give the command.” Claude ran a hand through his hair and gave a genuine laugh. “Ah geez, I really rambled on for a while. You know, Byleth, you can tell me to shut up at any point.”

Byleth was still taking in all that Claude told her. “You bring up many good points, but I think locking him up should be our last resort option.” She looked down to the ground, not wanting Claude to look into her eyes and see the many selfish reasons she felt that way. She didn’t know why she cared so much about Dimitri, it must have been because he was her student. “What if we were to convince him to join us? Make it seem like the only way for him to achieve what he wants? While we can’t be 100% certain he won’t suddenly snap and turn on us, if we got him to agree I could get him around old friends again, work with him and maybe he will become someone we can trust.”

“If you were anyone else, I would laugh at the idea.” Claude paused thinking back to whenever he mentioned Byleth to Dimitri. “But you, you of all people could do it. I’ll do it. Give him a shot, let him go back to his old room, let him be a part of our army and part of our plans, but only if he will agree to working for us. Only if he is willing to give up his crown and follow. I know I could not get him to agree to that, but you just might be able to Teach.”

They exchanged nods, agreeing to speaking to Dimitri together in a few minutes, but stayed on the balcony for a while. Taking time to catch up and joke with each other, actually laughing and forgetting about the troubles and stress of life for a few brief minutes. 

* * *

“Good evening, Duke Reigen. Miss Byleth.” The guards greeted them. Byleth felt weird about them being so formal, but just accepted it. The typical guard on the right was not there today, instead a new guard, this time a little taller and female, took his place. 

“Evening.” Claude replied. “We’re here to give the old prince a nice chat. Keep a lookout for us while we are in there. If we start screaming, you know what to do.” He added a wink with the last part and opened the door, following Byleth into the room.

Byleth carefully walked into the room. It was surprisingly not a wreck, though the majority of the furniture was no longer there. The nightstand was now missing too, leaving only the bed, which was askew but not knocked over. Dimtiri was standing on the opposite side of the room from the door, glaring at them with his arms crossed as they entered. He looked exhausted and his face was slightly swollen and red like he had been crying recently.

“Hello, Dimitri. How are you feeling today?” Byleth greeted him. He still had a bandage wrapped around his head, she would have to check on that.

Dimitri did not reply to her, instead focusing his glare on Claude, who closed the door and stood next to Byleth, seemingly relaxed. Claude wasted little time, jumping into explaining the deal to Dimitri. He would have to give up his title and join in the efforts from the Alliance. In return he would be granted his freedom, access to all the resources any other soldier had, and, more importantly, if they reached Edelgard, he was promised the opportunity to kill her himself. 

Byleth was impressed with how Claude laid everything out, he was very persuasive and subtly made it seem like an amazing option for Dimitri, which to be fair it was better than the other outcome. Dimitri seemed unamused by the offer, giving Claude a half-hearted scowl, he really seemed drained today.

“Please, Dimitri, join us.” Byleth chimed in. Dimitri finally looked over at her, he had been avoiding meeting her gaze. “We can work together to take down Edelgard in a quick and efficient manner. This is your last opportunity to accept, it would deeply sadden me if you refused once more.”

“And if I accept, how do I even know you can make it to Enbarr?” His voice was more hoarse than usual.

“Well, we did defeat your entire army in addition to Edelgard’s in the last fight.” Claude replied, “Plus, we have Teach on our side. Her tactics are brilliant. If anyone can win this war, it's Byleth.”

Dimitri looked down to the floor. “Fine. You give me no other options. I will comply. I’ll join you, not as a king but as another soldier in exchange for the satisfaction of watching Edelgard’s head hit the floor due to my blade.”

Byleth felt relief flood through her, she hadn’t realized how stressed she had become about it, convinced Dimitri would refuse.

“Excellent choice.” Claude smiled. “Now of course, if you harm any of my men, disobey, or do anything out of line that raises a red flag for me, I won’t hesitate to throw you into a jail cell and leave you there until well after the war. But let’s not dwell on such negative things. I’ll have someone make sure your old room is liveable and let everyone know about you during dinner. I’ll send someone to get you, for now I have to go set things in order. See you later Dimitri.” He turned to leave, looking back to wait for Byleth.

“You go on ahead. I’ll wait with Dimitri, send for us when it’s time.” Claude nodded and left, leaving Byleth alone with Dimitri.

“Can I check your head?” She asked him. He gave her a small weak nod and Byleth moved over to sit on the bed, motioning for Dimitri to join her. He did, sinking down onto the mattress, his eyelid falling low over his eye. Byleth carefully peaked under the bandage and was happy to see the gash was healing nicely and the bandage didn’t need to be changed. 

“This looks a lot better. How does it feel?”

Dimitri looked at his hands, “It itches slightly.” was the only response Bylelth got. 

“Well that’s fine. Oh! I almost forgot.” Byleth fished around her pockets and then pulled out his eyepatch. She had spent the last night sewing it back together. It was a bit crude, she wasn’t great at sewing, but it was strong enough to stay together. “I fixed this for you.” 

Dimitri turned and looked up at her and Byleth slipped the eyepatch over his head, gently settling it into place over his right eye. He watched her face as she fiddled with his hair, making sure none of it was stuck underneath the strap. Byleth became very aware of how close they were, she was probably way too close, as she could slightly feel his breath on her face. She finished up quickly and sat back, ignoring the slight blush that tinged her cheeks.

“You seem exhausted.”

Dimitri didn’t reply to her and instead went back to looking at his hands. 

“Well I hope you can get some rest tonight. You’ll be back in your old room, which may or may not help. It’s funny, everyone else always comments on how long ago the time at the Officer’s Academy feels, but for me… well I don’t remember those five years I was gone. It feels like only a couple of months ago I was teaching you guys.”

They sat together for some time, Byleth making small remarks every now and then and Dimitri mainly didn’t respond, or he would nod occasionally. They heard a knock on the door and a man appeared. He handed Dimitri a set of clothing and let them know Claude requested them at the dining hall. The man left and they stood. Dimitri slipped the simple white shirt he had been wearing off, replacing it with a tan button up shirt. He moved to start undoing his pants and shot Byleth an intense glare. She quickly turned away, not realising she had been staring. Of course, she had seen him in less before, back when she was nursing him back to life, but she quickly banished that memory from her mind. She heard him finish up, now wearing a fresh pair of black pants. 

Byleth led him through the passageways to the surface, Dimitri moving at a slow pace. They emerged and he squinted at the light, even though the sun had already begun to set. As they walked he took everything in, looking around at old familiar sights. His expression was hard to read, harsh but there was something else there. 

When they entered the dining hall, there was a burst of applause from the people of Faerghus. Even Felix joined in, all of them thrilled to see Dimitri once more after believing him dead. Byleth walked over to join Hilda, Claude, and Lysithea, who were all eating together. Everyone’s eyes were on Dimitri, who scaweld at the applause and got in line for a meal. 

Dimitri attempted to sit by himself in the back corner, simply trying to eat a small meal before retiring to his room, but students and soldiers alike surrounded him. They didn’t seem to care about his harsh words and how he drove them all away, the surprise and happiness they felt that Dimitri was alive and well overcame any other feelings. Byleth watched him, almost feeling sorry for him as countless people stopped by, being sent away one by one. 

Lysithea spoke up. “To think Dimitri came back from almost certain death. He really is a strange one. What’s with his bad attitude.”

“I dunno.” Replied Hilda. “I mean, well all know that Faerghus went through a lot in the war, who knows what is on his mind. Although it is strange to see someone so mad about people being glad he’s alive.” 


	8. Chapter 8

It was a few days after Dimitri joined them. He rarely showed up for anything, spending most of his time alone in either the cathedral or the train ground. He never showed up for the war meetings or when Byleth was giving out lessons. He would show up for battle training sometimes, but never sparred with other people, just the training dummies. 

Byleth tried talking to him sometimes, but it never got far. The most interaction she had had with him was to tell him she was happy to see his head had finally healed up and the bandage had been removed. 

She made her way to the training grounds, it was just after lunch and it was time for weapons training. She entered and was pleased to see Dimitri would be joining them for the day, as well as a decent amount of other students.

She overheard Annette talking to Dimitri, saying, “I am sorry, Your Highness.”

“Call me Dimitri, Annette, we’ve been over this. I am no longer a king.” He snapped back at her, anger evident in his voice.

“Attention everyone.” Byleth called out and the chatter died down. “Today we’ll be sparring with a partner, with the focus being on swords.” There were a few groans from some of the students who rarely used swords. “Everyone needs to know at least the basics of every weapon, so no complaining unless I’ll be your opponent. Anyway, I’m assigning partners for the first half today. First pair, Hilda and Felix. Then Ingrid and Lorenz. Mercedes and Ignatz, Sylvain and Raphael, Annette and Marianne, Lysithea and Ashe, Dimitri and Claude, and Leonie join in with Sylvain and Raphael.” 

Both Claude and Dimitri shot her a look, Dimitri for being paired up with anyone and Claude a look of, ‘you gotta be kidding.’ The pairs got to work sparing and Byleth walked around, making sure everyone was doing well and observing, stepping in to make pointers and give suggestions. She was currently observing Claude and Dimitri. She knew it was a bit unfair, while Claude was an excellent fighter, he was far better at ranged combat and struggled with close combat. Meanwhile Dimitri excelled at this distance and he attacked Claude with a fury, clearly letting his pent up emotions slip through.

The current match was intense, Dimitri was going heavy with the offense and Claude danced around him, keeping it so defensive he never moved to strike. 

“Don’t be so afraid to retaliate.” She said to Claude, moving to pause them for a moment. “Dimitri is bigger than you, but you move much faster. Instead of always keeping the distance and backing away, try this. Dimitri fight me for a few moments.” She sparred with Dimitri, copying what Claude did at first. “While this is good if you are trying to make an escape or stall for someone to join you, it will lead to unnecessary exhaustion.” She parried his next swing, moving quickly to land a strike firmly on his side. “He’s attacks are strong, so use his momentum to your advantage. Think back to the basics.” She stepped away and they continued. 

She roamed some more, helping Hilda out against Felix, who was one of the best of them at sword fighting. Then she worked with those who were struggling. Half way through she allowed them to take a small break, then spar with whoever they wished, many jumping around from partner to partner. Byleth wasn’t shocked that Dimitri opted to no partner and was back at the dummies. 

She walked over to him. “Your pick, either you spar Felix or you spar me.” 

“How about neither.” He hissed.

“Not an option.”

“Fine. You then.” Dimitri glared at her and they moved to start fighting.

They spared for a long while, neither of them gaining the upper hand. Dimitri attacked her with a rage stronger than ever before. He was relentless and stronger than her, but Byleth was more clever, using many methods she had picked up in her time as a mercenary. They were still on their first match, both of them breathing hard and sweating profusely. It was a close match, even though Dimitri preferred spears, it was clear he had spent a good amount of time working with a sword. His moves started to become more predictable as the fight went on and Byleth made a couple small notes to herself. She let him back her up, giving him false confidence. She waited for the right moment, he swung at her left, she blocked, bringing her sword tight against his, using her other hand to grab the pommel of Dimitri’s sword and quickly applied pressure, forcing his wrist at an odd angle, and stepped back, taking his sword with her. 

She shot him a smirk, keeping her sword pointed at him while holding his. It was clear to her Dimitri still hadn’t given up, even without his weapon. They circled each other, Dimitri was furious, looking for anything to give him the upper hand. He moved in close to land a hit with his fist on her, but she was able to predict his move. She quickly tossed his sword out of her way and dodged his fist, kicking his ankle out from under him and sending him to the ground. He quickly rolled over onto his back, about to get up when Byleth pinned him down, her knees preventing his arms from moving and she rested the dull edge of the training sword against his throat. 

They sat there for a few moments, both breathing hard and knowing Byleth had claimed victory. 

“Wow! Go Professor! That’s how it's done!!” Byleth turned her head to see that everyone had been watching them and were now cheering her victory. 

She turned back to Dimitri, and got off of him, offering him a hand to help him stand up. “You fought well.”

He glared at her, ignoring her hand and standing up on his own, storming out of the training grounds. Everyone watched him go. Byleth checked the time. “We still have thirty minutes left, who told yall to slack off!”

* * * 

Byleth didn’t see Dimitri for the rest of the day. She wondered if he was okay, but knew he was probably just pissed. It was a clear night and she was out on a walk, trying to wind down and relax so that she could get some sleep, but her body felt so awake even though she was tired. She was about done crossing the bridge to the cathedral when she spotted the now familiar shaggy blonde hair. He passed by the front of the cathedral, heading to the side path on the side with the Goddess Tower. She walked a little quicker, following him. He rounded the corner and she followed suit not longer after. She followed him and he walked over to near the well and abruptly stopped.

“Why are you following me?”

Byleth caught up to him. “I was curious where you were headed. Plus I wanted to check in, see how you were. You disappeared after our fight.”

He turned to look at her. “Lately I have felt nothing but anger. The voices of those I have lost have haunted me, demanding I get revenge for them. Their rage consumed me and mixed with my own. You.” He paused, giving her a frustrated look. “You confuse me. My anger feels… less sharp. Frustration takes its place and then you look at me with those eyes. With that soft expression.” His voice sounded strained and his eyebrows furrowed.

“What do you mean?” She asked him softly.

Instead of replying, he moved into sudden action, wrapping an arm around her lower back and his other hand held onto the back of her head. His lips pressed against hers, hard, pulling her into a searing kiss. She stood there shocked, not sure how to react.

He broke the kiss almost as fast as he started it, letting his forehead rest against hers. “I am not sure if that helped or made what I feel more jumbled up.” He whispered to her, she could feel his heart pounding in his chest. She slid one hand up into his hair, the other remaining on his chest, and pulled him into another kiss, her body seemingly moving on its own. 

She had no idea how long they were there, how many minutes had passed by as their lips moved together. His kisses were harsh and somewhat frantic, almost as if he was searching for something. 

Byleth snapped back to herself, quickly pulling away from him and worming out of his embrace. “I.. um… I have to go.” She stammered and darted away, Dimitri watching her as she left. 

She got back to her room and quickly closed the door, sinking to the ground against it. Unconsciously, one of her hands felt across her lips, her mind replaying the events that had just happened. Dimitri had kissed her? What was all that about? And why did she not mind it, in fact part of her wanted to run back to him. Sure, he was a handsome man, but it felt… wrong to think of him in that way and she had just kissed him! What was she thinking, allowing that to happen. They were in the middle of a war, not to mention Dimitri had so many different problems. 

It had been so long since she kissed anyone. She tried to think back to the last person she had kissed. Oh yeah, it had been a boy at one of the last villages she had visited with her dad. His kiss was so sweet and gentle, he had tried to convince Byleth to stay with him, they had spent a few weeks together while they dealt with bandits in the area. She had left of course, never really thinking back to him often. Dimitri’s kiss in comparison was so much harsher and the way he moved, it was like he was desperate to find something, desperate to take in all of what he could as quickly as he could. 

She moved off the floor and to her bed, sinking down and falling asleep shortly after, feelings of confusion dancing around in her head. 


	9. Chapter 9

"Hey professor!" Hilda called out, jogging over to Byleth. "Glad I caught up to you! Where are you heading?"  
Byleth was on her way to the Cathedral, she wanted to read the notes people left there and help give out advice. She had the afternoon off for once and wanted to check up on it.   
"Just walking to the Cathedral, is there something you need?"  
"Oh not really. Just wanted to catch up. Mind if I join you?" Byleth shook her head and they set off together. "Claude's been really in his head lately. The war's getting to all of us, but ever since prin- Dimitri has gotten here, things have been more tense and stressful. What do you think, professor?"   
"It has been more stressful. More people to train. More mouths to feed. But that also means more people on our side."  
"You have a point professor! So… you wanna go out into town and get some dinner with me tonight? I know funds are tight, but I'll pay. I've been dying to get some different food."  
"Yeah, of course Hilda. I would love to."  
They continued to chat as they made their way, they had just passed the knight's quarters when they spotted Dimitri walking towards them. He had been walking with his head down, but lifted it for a moment, making brief eye contact with Byleth before immediately turning around and ducking into a garden.   
Byleth let out a small sigh. He had avoided her at all costs the whole day.   
"What's with Mr. Moody? He's been especially sour today." Hilda asked.  
"Oh. I dunno" Byleth replied, forcing all thoughts of the kiss she shared with Dimitri the night before as far away as she could. "He's probably just upset that I bested him in front of everyone yesterday."   
"Yeah, you're right. He's supposed to be so great at fighting, but still no match for you professor! I'd be useless against him… or in most fights. I'm better at supporting from the sidelines."   
"Still trying that Hilda? After how many months?" Byleth laughed and Hilda soon joined in as they continued on, Byleth willing herself to not let Dimitri get to her. 

* * *

Byleth stared up at the dark ceiling of her room, the only light coming in from the pale moon, high in the sky. Tomorrow they marched to Fort Merceus. She was used to battle by now, but it still made her anxious on the nights before, hard to get to sleep with the stress of other people’s lives floating around her head.  
The past few weeks had been rough. The people of Faerghus were still getting used to the change, some better than others. A week and a half ago Ingrid tried to rally together the people of Faerghus, attempting to unite them under Dimitri and take back their homeland. Many of the soldiers were swayed over, and a big scene was created with the people of Faerghus split into two main groups, those who supported Ingrid’s ideals and wished to make Dimitri king once more and those who believed their only hope was in supporting Claude and the alliance. Byleth had moved to stop the uprising, but halted by Claude’s hand on her arm. He nodded towards Dimitri, who was hiding out of sight of most people nearby.  
They watched as Ingrid inspired the soldiers, many cheering for her. Felix argued with her, mainly bashing Dimitri and listing reasons he would be a terrible ruler, but his words weren’t enough to stop them. Claude’s attention never left Dimitri, who simply listened for a while. After a few minutes, Dimitri stepped out of his hiding spot, the crowd went wild, cheering him and chanting “King Dimitri” as he stepped up on some wooden boxes to speak to them.   
“You are all fools!” Dimitri was boiling with anger. “I am no king. I care nothing of reclaiming Faerghus, nothing of pointless titles, nothing of any of you. The only goal that matters to me is killing the Emperor. Let her head fall then mine shortly after, we are all damned monsters anyway!”  
The crowd fell silent, dumbfounded by his words.  
“Don’t just stand there staring at me. Either make yourself useful to the Alliance or run back to Faerghus to get yourselves killed, I care not which you chose.” With that Dimitri hoped back to the ground and left.  
Byleth and Claude hung back, observing as Ingrid desperately tried to get them to follow her instead, but it was pointless. The people of Faerghus were defeated.   
Dimitri’s outrage that day may have helped the soldiers stay with the alliance, but it also made them angry. He had already been jumped twice by some outraged soldiers. About a third of the soldiers from Faerghus left and tensions were high. Byleth tried her best to alleviate them, focusing on treating everyone with kindness and patience while Claude tried to sway everyone to his cause with his words. Overall they were able to get everyone to settle down a bit and focus their attention on Fort Merceus instead.  
Byleth turned over on her side, wishing she could stop reliving the recent weeks and just drift off to sleep already, but everytime she was close Dimitri popped into her brain again.   
She hadn’t had a proper conversation with him since he had kissed her. The most they ever interacted was to discuss the upcoming battle, and even then it was brief. She tried to talk to him, but if he saw her coming he would turn around or find a way to get out of speaking to her. Thinking about him made her frustrated and confused, so she tried her best to block him out as she stared into the darkness.   
She wondered if Dedue would meet them there, Claude and Byleth had sent him a letter telling him everything that had happened, requesting his assistance at Fort Merceus. Byleth hoped he received it and would join them. 

The march to Fort Merceus felt long, but the battle felt longer. Even though they had gained entrance and opened the gates for their allies, the fight was intense. Both an Almyran force and Dedue had shown up, but the Empire was more prepared than they had originally thought. In the midst of the battle, Byleth got separated from everyone else, a small group of Imperial soldiers leading her down some alleyway between buildings.   
Byleth wasn’t concerned, they were simple foot soldiers, nothing she hadn’t taken care of before. She ran after them, rounding a corner and stepping out into a more open area. The three soldiers were in the middle, swords raised preparing to fight. Byleth rushed at them, easily defeating two of them and clashing with the third before he too fell. That’s when she heard the footsteps behind her, she tried to jump forward, but it was too late. She cursed herself for being so reckless as she felt a sword slash across her back, cutting deep into her. She fell forward due to the impact, hitting the ground hard, just barely catching herself with her hands. Pain began to register in her mind as the attacker kicked her onto her back, knocking her sword far away from her.   
Byleth could tell the person staring down at her was smug, though a black mask covered their face. Byleth called for the magic within her, planning on hitting them with a blast of it, but the masked person could tell as well.  
“Not so fast.” The female voice called out, at the same time she moved, stabbing down into Byleth’s stomach. Byleth cried out in pain, reaching within herself, searching for that familiar feeling, to rewind time. Her grasp on consciousness was slipping, she had to focus and fast, but the woman attacking her was cruel and dragged the sword sideways and Byleth’s concentration slipped as darkness consumed her.

The first thing Byleth noticed was a pressure on her left arm, the second was the intense ache that spread across her torso. She could tell she was laying on her back and that breathing hurt slightly. She was on something soft and whatever was on her arm was warm. Her head felt fuzzy and she slowly opened her eyes. There was a blurry ceiling above her and she slowly looked down at her arm, trying to orient herself. All she could really see was a mess of blonde hair. She blinked a few times, her vision and head starting to clear. She looked around, recognizing the infirmary of Garreg Mach and also recognizing Dimitri.  
He was in a chair, pulled next to the bed she was laying in, though he had fallen forward, with the side of his head resting against the inside of her arm. She could feel his fingers limpily laying against hers, could hear the gentle in and out of his breath as he slept, and could see that his hair had fallen over his face. There was no way he was comfortable like that.   
Byleth tried to recall what happened, how she got there, but the last thing she remembered was being stabbed. Her mind began to race, wondering what happened at the battle, how long it had been, if everyone was ok.   
She took a painful deep breath, trying to calm herself. She looked at Dimitri, focusing on him instead. He seemed so peaceful in his sleep and a ping of sadness shot through Byleth’s chest. She swallowed hard, recalling her time taking care of him after he almost died. He always seemed much more at peace in his sleep. She wanted to reach out, brush the hair out of his face and gently kiss him. Her heart hurt looking at him like this. He had turned so cruel and spent so long avoiding her, she was confused as to why he was here, confused about so many things regarding him.  
“Dimitri?” She called out softly.  
His eye opened and he squinted blinking a few times before sitting up, groaning as he rubbed the back of his neck. He gave her a weary smile.  
“You’re awake?” His voice was filled with disbelief.  
“What happened?”   
“I… You…” Dimitri took a moment to gather his thoughts. “You were really injured at Fort Merceus, almost killed. I had noticed you followed those soldiers by yourself, but I hung back to keep fighting. Something was nagging me to make sure you were alright and well… I hesitated too long. I thought I had lost you, but I brought you to Marianne and she kept you alive. Claude led the army in your stead and through his guidance, Fort Mercues was taken over. That was a week ago now.”  
“A week?!” Byleth exclaimed, trying to sit up. Pain shot through her and she fell back against the bed.  
“Please, try not to move too much. You were in pretty rough shape.” Dimitri gave her another slight smile. “How are you feeling?”  
‘What is happening’ Byleth thought to herself, staring back up at the ceiling.  
“Breathing hurts a bit. I’m sore. But overall, I could probably feel worse.”  
There was a gentle knock on the door and they both looked over to see Marianne enter the room, carrying rags and a bucket with her.   
“Oh, hello Dimitri. Professor! I’m glad to see you are awake.” She gave them a warm smile. “I’m here for the afternoon bandage change.”  
“I’ll… um.. Get out of your way.” Dimitri said standing up and scurrying out of the room.  
“He’s been acting differently lately.” Marianne said after he left, starting to unwrap the bandage around Byleth, who tried to help as best she could. “He’s been far less angry, though I suspect sadness has taken its place. He still doesn’t seem to like to be around people or talk to them, he has spent the last week either by himself or in here with you, professor.” Marianne let out a slight chuckle. “It seems the two of you have more of a relationship than everyone thought.”  
Byleth felt a slight blush. “It’s not that at all. I don’t really know why he was here. He had been avoiding me for weeks.”   
“I’m only teasing. But he does seem to care about you. He was so worried when he brought you to me. It was quite a sight to take in at first, he was covered in blood and carrying you in his arms. I could tell he had been crying, he thought you were dead, as your heart was not beating. You were still breathing though. It was quite strange, as your heart still doesn’t beat, but Claude said that was normal for you.”  
“Yeah, Claude’s right. I’ve never had a heartbeat.”   
“Huh, that's rather strange, professor, but just another interesting thing about you I guess. Either way I’m glad you are alive.” Marianne began to clean the gash across her back. Byleth could feel that it traveled from her left shoulder blade down to her right hip. She winced as she felt Marianne work. They talked, Marianne telling her about how everyone was. Aside from a few minor injuries, no one else was hurt.   
Marianne finished with her back, then cleaned the stab on Byleth’s stomach, which was about a five inch cut from her left side towards her navel. Afterwards she used some magic to help heal her and left for the evening, wishing her a goodnight and said Mercedes would be by in the morning. Byleth let exhaustion take over and fell asleep quickly after she left. 

The next time she awoke, the room was mostly dark, the only light coming from a candle on the other side of the room. Dimitri was back in the chair next to her, staring up at the ceiling. Candle light glistened off of his cheek and Byleth realized he must have been crying.  
“Dimitri? What’s wrong?” She asked, sleep still fogging up her brain.  
His head snapped down to look at her, clearly startled. “How long have you been awake?”  
“I only just woke up. Are you crying?” She moved to rub her eyes, wincing at the pain across her back as she moved her arm.  
Dimitri’s gaze fell to the floor, his hair falling in front of his face. He offered no reply.  
Byleth felt herself wanting to fall back asleep, but she fought against it. "What time is it?" She asked, partially because she was curious and partially because she wanted to change the subject.  
"It's probably almost four in the morning. At least last time I checked it was three." He sounded hollow as he spoke.  
"Four in morning?" Byleth exclaimed, she had a feeling it was late, but not that late. "What are you doing up so late? You should get some sleep."  
Dimitri shifted again, this time to look back up at the ceiling. He swallowed hard before speaking. "I can't sleep."  
“Oh, I see.” She felt that now familiar pain in her chest as she looked at him. She wanted to reach out and take one of his hands in hers, but his arms were resting on his legs and her upper body prevented her from moving too far.  
A few moments of silence passed and Byleth struggled to stay awake. “So any particular reason you came here?” In all honestly she was confused as to what brought Dimitri to her. He had spent so much time avoiding her, Byleth figured he wanted nothing to do with her and now all of a sudden he seemed to care about her.  
He looked over at her, the candle light casting dramatic shadows on his face. Byleth wished the expression he wore wasn’t so sad. “I… I thought you were going to be another voice of the dead that torment me. I don’t want to lose another person. You were gone for fives years, I… I didn’t want you to die this time. And seeing you alive. It makes me worried that I’ll leave and when I come back you won’t wake up again.”   
She could hear the emotion in his voice and it was clear to her he was holding a lot back. The urge to wrap him in a tight hug and tell him everything was going to be okay was strong. She wasn’t sure how to respond, not wanting to say the wrong thing and have him shut down on her or leave.   
She let out a pained groan as she sat up, her back screaming at her to lay down again while her stomach yelled as well. She didn’t care, using her arms to push herself up.   
“Byleth! What are you doing?” Dimitri reached forward to catch her as she slipped up a bit, holding most of her weight for her. “You need to lay back down.”  
She refused, using his shoulder as leverage to pull herself up. Her breathing was ragged as she sat there, focusing on letting some of the pain subside, which it slowly did. She realized Dimitri was stuck in a half squatting position and she scooted over on the bed, allowing him space to sit. He didn’t take it at first, but it grew too tiresome to support her in his current position and she wouldn’t allow him to lay her back down.   
“I’m not going anywhere Dimitri. At least not any time soon. I know there is a lot going through your head and you are dealing with so much. Please, tell me if there is anything I can do to help you. I am here to listen if you need someone to talk to or I can try to help give you advice or even train to get your mind off of things.”   
“Ever since that day nine years ago, I’ve heard their voices. All of the people killed. My father… my stepmother… Glenn… so many more. They all have tormented me. I hear nothing but their desperate pleas for revenge. It falls onto my shoulders. I am the sole survivor of that day though I shouldn’t have been. Why must I live on when those who deserved so much more life die?” His body trembled as he continued to speak. “I am a heartless monster, my hands are stained crimson. There has been nothing on my mind but death and revenge on my mind, even as I lead my people. I’ve been called a one-eyed demon, though I feel as if I am far worse. I disregarded the people I killed, death became so meaningless to me. Yet, when I thought you were dead at Fort Merceus, my resolve faltered. I broke away from the fight to save you. As if I had any right to deny those who haunt me what they deserve, but I couldn’t let you join them. Even if that meant failing them.” His voice was failing him as he choked out the last few sentences.  
“Dimitri.” Byleth said softly. His gaze met hers. “Those who have died, they are in the past. Their lives do not fall on your shoulders. Just because you survived doesn’t mean that you have to surrender your whole life for those who didn’t.”  
“Then tell me, what is the purpose of my life. Why must I go on?”  
“Live for yourself. What is it that you truly want? Is it to keep on killing without thought? Is it to move far away to a distant land and start anew? Search inside yourself and find out a reason to live for yourself and not for others.”  
Another few minutes of silence passed, Dimitri looking away once more. “Professor… do you remember what your father looked like?”  
The question took Byleth by surprise. Her dad. She missed him, thought about him all the time during battles using a technique he had taught her or remembering different conversations they had around Garreg Mach. Even though his memory still seemed fresh in her mind, “His face had become a bit blurry to me.”  
“Heh, the same has happened to me with my family. I swore to never forget their faces yet… I find them hard to recall.”  
Byleth shifted uncomfortably, the pain had slowly started climbing again. She moved to lay back down and Dimitri helped to guide her down. He moved to get up, but Byleth caught his arm with her hand.   
“Stay, just until I fall asleep.” She felt selfish asking that of him, but she didn’t want him to leave, wanted to be there for him and didn’t want the harsh expression to replace the more relaxed one he wore as he looked down at her.  
He said nothing, but he stayed, allowing her to slide her hand into his. It wasn’t long after when sleep set in once more for Byleth.


	10. Chapter 10

Another four days had passed, Byleth lay in the bed in the clinic, staring up at the ceiling in boredom. Her recovery was going amazingly, thanks to the efforts of Marianne and Mercedes. Byleth was now able to move around without any pain, the stab wound on her stomach had closed up and her back would only need another day, and it was driving Byleth crazy. All she was allowed to do was lay down in bed and rest. It was so frustrating. She could walk around just fine, so she should be allowed to teach again at least. They were in the middle of a war, she didn't have the time to waste laying in bed. Sure, everyone would stop by and talk with her, keep her company and help time pass, but she was tired of just laying there. 

She knew it was early afternoon and Mercedes would come by during dinner to eat with her then do some healing magic, so Byleth had about five hours. Plenty of time to sneak out and get some fresh air. Someone could stop by and see she was missing, but she’d deal with the consequences later. 

It felt great to finally stretch her legs as she walked to the door. She peered out into the hall, making sure no one was around. Coast clear, Hanneman was in his room, but he was too busy reading some book to even notice Byleth as she left. Next was Seteth’s office, if he was there she would have to think of a different plan. She snuck a risky glance into his office, not a soul to be seen. Byleth wasted no time getting to the stairs, moving as fast as she could without putting too much strain on her back, it was still a little tender if she moved the wrong way. She made her way to the gardens around the dinning hall, avoiding the paths with people. She knew someone would see her, but most of the soldiers there wouldn’t question her and just assume she had fully recovered. She walked around, feeling the warmth of the sun and made her way to the old classrooms, getting lost in thought. No one was around at the moment and she stepped into the Golden Deer’s room, smiling at the fond memories. Rapheal sneaking food into class. Claude pranking Lorenz. Ignatz telling Marianne about a painting he was working on. Leonie trying to convince Hilda to train with her. Lysithea staying late to ask Byleth some questions.

She recalled one day when she had to teach the Blue Lions as well, they were all in the Golden Deer’s room. She saw many of the students when she would give out special lectures on specific topics, but she didn’t get to teach all of the Blue Lions at once very often. They were a pleasure to teach, very focused on learning, unlike some of her own students. Hilda, Leonie, and Claude did make it their personal mission to mess with Felix all day though, having a competition to see who could get a hug out of him at one point. She had to break up an almost fight when Claude had ‘accidently’ slipped and wrapped his arms around him. Felix was so pissed, she could almost hear him now, yelling and complaining the whole time. 

She paused, realizing it wasn’t just in her memories that she could hear Felix’s voice. She panicked, hiding quickly. She listened closely and heard Slyvain’s voice as well. They were muffled, coming from the room next door. 

Relief flooded Byleth and she made her way out, spotting Claude walking towards her with Hilda to her right, which forced her to walk left, passing the Blue Lion’s classroom. Luckily Claude and Hilda seemed to be having a rather heated talk, not noticing Byleth at all. She walked with purpose, hoping the two inside the classroom wouldn’t spot her and trying to make it to the Black Eagle’s room to hide.

“Byleth?” Crap, Felix had spotted her. 

She ducked into the room, narrowly missing Hilda’s gaze. She hid beside the door, whispering, “Keep it down you too.” 

Sylvain replied with, “Aren’t you supposed to be resting?”

“Exactly why I said to keep it down.” She listened as Claude and Hilda passed by, arguing about whether or not Felix’s turtleneck sweater was a long sleeve or a tank top style. Of course it was something stupid, Claude was convinced it was a tanktop, but Hilda thought that would be rediculous. Felix made an annoyed noise at their conversation and Sylvain asked him which one it was. Felix ignored him.

Claude and Hilda were out of earshot and Byleth relaxed. “Thank you.” She said to Felix and Sylvain.

“No problem, but what brings you all the way out here?” Sylvain replied.

“I was tired of being cooped up in that room, it was driving me crazy so I snuck out.”

“Makes sense to me.” Felix said.

“So what were you two doing in here?” Byleth asked.

“Oh, you know professor. Reminiscing about the good old days, back when I could tease good old Dimitri without him trying to rip my throat out.” Sylvain chuckled a bit.

Dimitri. Byleth wondered where he was. She had seen him almost every night, but he didn’t say much, just sat next to her and sometimes replied to some small talk about his day. Byleth mainly just sat with him, letting him have time to think. She enjoyed his company even if he didn’t say much.

Sylvain pulled her from her thoughts. “I can’t believe that little crush of his never went away.” 

“What do you mean?” Byleth asked.

“You can’t be serious.” Felix replied. “Surely you must have noticed the boar’s crush on you back in the academy days.”

Byleth felt her cheeks turn a bit pink. “No, I had no idea.”

“Seriously? He wouldn’t shut up about you. He nearly fainted that one time you came in to help teach sword fighting. Not to mention how much he went on and on about you having tea with him on his birthday. Poor Dedue had to hear the most about it.”

“Eh, Sylvain’s exaggerating a bit, but he did talk about you a lot. It was annoying.” 

“I had no idea…” Byleth looked down at the ground, not sure how to respond.

“Dimitri’s a complicated man, especially nowadays, but he seems to be getting better, thanks to you. If you hadn't saved him he would have died and ever since then he’s been slowly getting back to normal. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m glad you almost died back in Merceus. We’ve all been worried about Dimitri and something about it must have shocked him out of whatever plagued him. Or at least made it a whole lot better. He still doesn’t interact with us much, but he’s far less angry.”

“Yeah, the boar's been a lot better. You better keep helping him out professor. I don’t want to have to look upon such a lowly beast again.” 

* * *

Another week passed by and Byleth fell back into the life she had gotten used to with the war. Her injuries were nothing but another two scars. Not much had changed except for a few additional soldiers, including Dedue and Gilbert, who had shown up to join them at Fort Merceus. They weren’t thrilled that Dimitri had been stripped of his title, but agreed to stay to help fight the Empire so that Faerghus would soon be free of the Empire’s control. 

Byleth had fallen into the habit of walking over to the greenhouse at around midnight. Dimitri would be there waiting for her and they would walk around together. Most of the time it was aimless wandering, neither of them saying much. 

Dimitri seemed to be slowly getting better, he was starting to participate in more activities, from war meetings to weapons training to having dinner in the dining hall. While he mainly kept quiet, Byleth had noticed he would talk every now and then about training that day or questions about the war. Still, nightmares plagued his sleep. Byleth understood how he felt, she had trouble with sleep as well. Perhaps that is why their nightly outings worked out so well. It started out as an accident, Byleth sneaking out at night on the last night she had to sleep in the infirmary. She felt too restless to sleep and went for a walk, spotting Dimitri looking into the lake. It then developed into an unspoken agreement. 

That's why she felt concerned as she approached the green house. Dimitri was nowhere to be seen, he was always there before her. She looked around, checking inside the green house and around it. Still, he wasn't there. She tried not to feel discouraged and she sat on one of the low walls nearby and waited a few minutes, playing with her thumbs a bit nervously. Did something happen? Or maybe he wasn't going to show up tonight? 

"Sorry I'm late." Dimitri approached from the stairs leading to the upper floor of the dormitory. 

"It's ok. No need to worry about it. Everything ok?" Byleth got up from where she was sitting and they began to walk, heading towards the training grounds. 

Dimitri seemed to be in a better mood tonight. "I've been worse. I was just writing something down and lost track of the time." 

"What were you writing?" 

Dimitri turned slightly pink and looked away. "Oh, nothing really. Just a letter."

They kept walking, their unspoken path leading over to the Cathedral tonight. Around halfway across the bridge Dimitri stopped, Byleth pausing with him. 

He gazed up at the night sky. "It's a clear night. You can see so many stars."

Byleth looked up, he was right. There wasn't a cloud to be seen and the sky was filled with stars. The moon was almost full and glowed brightly, illuminating everything around them. 

They stood there for a couple minutes, resting on the railing shoulder to shoulder. "You know, the other day Felix and Sylvain told me something rather peculiar about you, Dimitri."

"If it's those two, it could have been any number of things." Dimitri looked over at her and Byleth could have sworn she saw a hint of a smile on his face. 

Her stomach did a flip, not sure if it was a good time to bring up this, but something came over her and there's no time like the present. "Well, they told me you used to have a crush on me back when I was your professor."

"What!?" Dimitri's eyes widened and a blush sprouted on his cheeks.

"You used to have a crush on me."

"I heard you the first time." Dimitri looked off to the side. "I um… why did you bring it up?" 

"Well partially to tease you." She said, playfully knocking him with her shoulder. Her nerves were going haywire, but she tried her best to play it cool. "But also so that we could have a talk about… those kinds of feelings." 

He didn't respond to her, instead he hyper-focused on a faraway tree. 

Byleth felt her stomach do a flip again. Was it the wrong time to bring this up? She probably should have waited longer. What if he didn't have any of those kinds of feelings anymore and she was just making a fool of herself? Hell, she didn't even know how she felt about him. "Like… about a month ago, you kissed me and it keeps running through my mind and I feel so confused about it and maybe this is a bad time to bring it up and maybe you don't really have any kind of feelings about me and I don't even know if I know how I feel and yet when I look at you there's this feeling in my chest and I don't know how to describe it but all I know is that you are really nice to be around and I want to be here for you and-"

Dimitri chuckled a bit. "You are rambling."

It was Byleth's turn to blush. "I.. um.. sorry. I just want to know why you kissed me."

Dimitri looked over at her, clearly thinking. "Byleth. There are a lot of complicated emotions running through my head. It's a jumbled up mess. I look at you" Dimitri moved to cup one of his hands on her cheek. "And I feel something kind of like that crush I had. But I don't know. It's different." His brows furrowed together. 

"Do you want to kiss me again?" Her eyes searched his.

"I- I don't know. It's hard to just focus on my feelings about you. I am trying to sort out my mind but it's difficult. It's as if the ghosts of the dead have chosen my mind to haunt, their taunting never ceases and I have a hard time thinking past them and focusing on other things. I feel so lost. You asked me what I live for. I want to find that answer but I don't know how to even begin."

"You aren't alone. I'm here for you. I can help you find that. I can listen if you need to talk." 

His face had fallen so downcast. Byleth gently pressed her face against his hand, giving him a smile. 

“Byleth.” He said softly. “Maybe I do want to kiss you…” 

Byleth swallowed hard as Dimitri leaned closer to her. Why was she so nervous? After all they had already kissed before. She also started to lean in, anticipation killing her.

“Well if it isn’t my two favorite moody people! What are you two doing out so la-” Claude paused as Dimitri and Byleth shot away from each other, staring at him with wide eyes. “Did I interrupt something? Why are you both blushing like school girls?”

Byleth was the one to answer. “No reason in particular. Claude. Why are you out this late? And I am not moody.” 

“Really, you aren’t moody? Says the woman who did nothing but give me a disapproving stare for six months. But anyway, I’m out for a stroll because I can’t sleep. Nothing unusual. May or may not be investigating if an old text I found about the cathedral is true. Care to join me?”

“Well… um we were in the middle of… something.” Dimitri answered.

“Oh, right. That.” Claude gave them a wink. “I’ll leave you two to it.” Claude moved to continue on his walk to the cathedral. “Oh and before I forget. The common room is almost always empty this time of night if you two were looking for a more private place for your meeting in the middle of the night for ‘no reason at all.’ No one would really interrupt but to be on the safe side the doors do lock. Not that I would know about such a thing.” 

They both watched Claude as he walked down the bridge and into the cathedral. “Well… it's getting late and I have an early day teaching tomorrow. I should probably try to get some sleep.”

Dimitri gave her a nod and walked with her back to her room, lingering for a moment in the doorway after saying goodnight. 

Byleth noticed he still stood there. “Everything alright Dimitri?”

“Huh? Oh… yeah.” He walked over to Byleth, pulling her in for a close hug. “I just wanted to say goodnight again.” He said softly. Byleth let her head rest against his chest. He broke away all too quickly and swiftly left, leaving Byleth to stare after him as he left.


	11. Chapter 11

In three days they would march to Enbarr. Byleth felt that nervous feeling in her stomach thinking about it. So much was at stake. If they failed at Enbarr, they lost the war. Then all the bloodshed and death was for nothing. 

Felix was one of the first who caught on to her nerves. She had too many slip ups during a sparring match and he questioned her about it. She played it off as nothing but he was onto her. She almost laughed at Felix’s solution. He asked Dimitri to talk to her. So here he was, standing at her door, offering her the same assistance she always offered him.

She invited him in. There was a sadness about Dimitri that Byleth feared would never go away, but he had grown a lot in the past weeks. He built his relationships back up with the former Blue Lions. Soldiers that once hated him now looked up to him. Claude recognized Dimitri’s talent as a leader, gave him a high ranking position in the army and everyone’s spirits seemed to be lifting with the anticipation of the final battle. There was hope that they would win. A new sense of determination swelled.

They sat on the floor next to each other, backs against Byleth’s bed. Byleth looked over at Dimitri as they sat together, a comfortable and familiar silence in the room. He had taken to pulling his hair back and out of his face. Byleth’s eyes ran along his now visible jawline. He had also taken to wearing his black armor again, along with the fluffy cape, however that was during the day, opting to change after dinner into a simple black shirt and pants. 

“So, what’s troubling you Byleth?”

“Normally I’m the one asking that question.”

“Well, everyone needs to talk sometimes, this just happens to be one of your times. And I am more than happy to listen.” He reached out to take ahold of one of Byleth’s hands and brushed his lips over her knuckles in a gentle kiss. They weren’t exactly in a relationship, it was a weird kind of grey area that neither of them brought up. The most they ever did was hold hands when the moment was right, like their private walks around the monastery. Their nighttime walks had been moved to late evening walks, and though Byleth did miss the dead of night when no one else was around, she was grateful for the extra rest, even if it wasn’t always extra sleep.

“I’m just… Nervous about the upcoming battle.”

“Well, everyone is. That’s normal. There’s something you’re not saying isn’t there.”

She looked away from him and towards the floor, afraid of how he might react if she was honest. “I don’t want to have to kill Edelgard.”

Byleth was scared of what this silence meant, a tension in the air. She jumped a little when she felt his palm on her cheek, turning her face towards his. A sad expression on his face. “To tell the truth, neither do I.”

She looked at him a bit shocked.

He laughed a little at her face, letting his hand fall from her face down to her hand once more. “I know. Not long ago the only thing I seemed to talk about was getting revenge and hating Edelgard. In all honesty you were the one who helped me out of that. Your words helped me to see myself. See who I had become. See that I could change. You helped me have a reason to live for myself instead of those who died while I lived on.”

A hard to pin down emotion swelled in Byleth. 

“Don’t get all teary eyed on me, you’ll make me blush with that look.”

“I’m just proud of you, Dimitri. I’m glad I was able to help you. That you are here with me now.”

“I am as well.” He gave her a pleasant smile before adding, “Would you care to hear a secret?”

Byleth raised her eyebrows at him.

“Edelgard is actually my stepsister.”

Byleth would have thought he was joking if it were for the solemn expression on his face. “Come again?”

“My father remarried and it was Edelgard’s mother. We weren’t exactly close and I did not spend much time with her when we were younger, but there was a brief time we were friends.”

Byleth wasn’t really sure how to respond to that, so she opted to just sit with him in that moment, simply offering her support with her presence instead of accidentally saying something that might upset him.

“I wonder if there isn’t some way we could talk to her and end the war peacefully. Maybe she would be willing to meet with you, Byleth.”

They chatted about lighter topics for a while before Dimitri headed off to try to get some sleep. Byleth hadn’t noticed it had already gotten to be quite dark out and she sent him off, wishing him a goodnight and thanking Felix in her head for sending Dimitri her way. She’d have to repay him, maybe send Sylvain his way one day. 

_ White hair, soaked red with blood. An evil laughter bouncing off the nothingness around Byleth as she laid with Edelgard in her arms. Then she was standing, surrounded by bodies of those she loved, all fallen in combat. Horrible gruesome images, all while a voice taunted her, asking her why she wasn’t good enough. Why she didn’t save them. It twisted everything. She cried out that their deaths weren’t her fault. A dagger in her hand, a realization that she was the one who stabbed them all. Her fault they were now all dead. Whiteness instead of a black void, the knife she held was now stabbing into someone. Her father fell to the ground in front of her. Lifeless face yet he somehow managed to ask why she had killed them all- _

Byleth shot up, breathing hard from the nightmare. A cold sweat clung to her nightshirt. She tried to forget the lifeless faces of her closests friends, shove the images as far away as she could. She hugged her knees to her chest, trying not to cry and failing. She was scared to close her eyes again. Time passed too slowly. She did not want to be alone. It was a little past two in the morning. 

Her body seemed to move on its own. Leading her out of her room, up a set of stairs and in front of Dimitri’s door. She knocked gently at first, but knocked a little louder when there was no response. She heard some movement and the door opened, revealing Dimitri in nothing but his underwear. 

“Byleth?” His voice was groggy from sleep and a little blush fell across his face as he realized how little he was wearing.

She only hesitated for a moment before reaching forward to wrap her arms around him in a tight hug, burying her face into his bare chest, trying to magically will herself to not cry. Dimitri gently embraced her back, stroking her hair. He moved them away from the door and gently closed it. Byleth felt like a child crying like she was, but she couldn’t stop. After a couple minutes she was able to pull herself together enough to talk.

“I’m sorry for waking you. I know it’s hard for you to sleep.” Her voice was muffled against his chest.

“It’s quite alright. What troubles you?” 

“Just another nightmare.”

She took a step back, his arms falling away reluctantly as she did. She couldn’t help galancing over him. His body was less gaunt than it used to be, much healthier and filled out now that he was eating properly. She noticed a few familiar scars across his body, it felt like a lifetime ago she was bringing him back from the brink of death. His hair hung messily around his face and he wasn’t wearing his eye patch. She tried desperately not to glance down at dark blue cloth that hung loosely from his hips. She could feel her face heating up.

Dimitri rubbed the back of his head, slightly embarrassed. “It’s.. uh.. A lot hotter here than it is in Faerghus and I burn up when I sleep... Did you want to talk about your nightmare or?”

Byleth walked over and sat on his bed, feeling tired. Dimitri sat down next to her, warmly bumping her shoulder with his. “You can talk to me. I’ve had plenty of bad dreams, so I won’t judge if they get really messed up.”

“I just, I don’t want to think about it. Everyone was dead and it was my fault.” She swallowed hard, a lump forming in her throat. “Let’s leave it at that.”

Dimitri pulled her into his chest once more, running his hands soothingly along her back. “I’m so tired.” She said, nudging her face into the crook of his neck. His body was so warm, it felt nice.

“Then you should try to get some sleep again.” She could feel the vibrations from his voice as he spoke.

She buried herself further into Dimitri. “I don’t want to be alone.”

“Then stay.” His voice was barely more than a whisper. 

Byleth pulled away from him to look at his face. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, of course.” He flashed her a reassuring smile. “Maybe we’ll both sleep better.”

Byleth gave him a nod before resting her head against him once more. She moved with him and he guided them into a laying down position, both of them one their sides embracing one another.

* * *

The walls of Enbarr laid on the horizon, a constant reminder of dread and anticipation. The march had taken longer than expected, so they set up camp so that they would avoid fighting at night. An uneasiness spread across the camp at dinner, most soldiers trying their best to put up a front of confidence. The odds seemed to be stacked against them, but then again they always seemed stacked against them. 

Byleth sat at a small table along with Claude, Dimitri, Dedue, Yuri, and Hilda. The talk was mainly about the upcoming battle, going over where to lead the men, the protocol for different scenarios. They also talked about the messenger that Claude had sent earlier that day, an attempt to negotiate with Edelgard, a plea for a talk. She had denied the plea, simply saying there was no point in trying to persuade her, her mind and heart were both set on the path laid before them. 

Claude was the one to deliberately lighten the mood and soon enough he had a heated competition going between Yuri, Dimitri, and himself about who could take the biggest bite. Hilda was quick to show them up, but no one expected Dedue to step up and claim victory. Byleth couldn’t help but laugh a little at their antics. She was glad Claude always seemed to be able to cheer people up, she needed it.

She found herself walking around aimlessly after dinner, everything was ready for the battle in the morning, all that was left was to waitt. Dimitri walked with her and they found themselves on the edge of the camp, mostly alone except for a few soldiers here and there. 

“Byleth, there’s something I would like to say.” Dimitri pulled them to a stop, turning to look at her. She gave him a nod to show she was listening. “A lot could happen tomorrow. There is a chance one or both of us might not make it. That this could be our last night together and I just wanted to try to express myself before losing the ability to all together. You have grown to mean so much to me Byleth. You’ve saved me in so many different ways. I care about you so much and I wanted to try to express that, though I feel as if I am having a hard time putting it into words.” His eye searched her eyes as he spoke, his hands reaching out to take hers. 

“Dimitri.” She moved to cup the sides of his face in her hands, feeling his hands settle on her lower back. “I care about you too, like a lot and I… How do I put it? I really… I’m trying to say-” 

Her rambling was interpreted as Dimitri leaned down, pressing a kiss to her lips. Byleth was taken aback for only a brief second before returning the kiss. His lips felt soft against hers, his kiss gentle and sweet. She longed to stay there with him forever. 

Her eyes fluttered open again when he pulled back, both of them exchanging a shy smile. "Stay with me again tonight." Dimitri asked, his voice low and quiet. It had become the new normal for them, both realizing quickly that nights spent together were nights with better sleep. She gave him a nod and let her head rest on his shoulder, getting lost in the comfort of his embrace. 

********

Byleth felt too numb to cry. Too numb to join in with the army's cries of victory. The war with the Empire was finally over. Edelgard's body lay lifeless where Byleth had left her. She would be given a proper burial later but first came the announcement of their victory. 

Claude was the one calling out, not letting the negative emotions he felt show through. Byleth watched as he gave a speech, heard the soldier's cheer and celebrate, yet everything seemed so distant. She was on one side of Claude with Dimitri on the other, she found she couldn't look Dimitri in the eye. 

That night there was a celebratory feast. Byleth tried to push the memory of Edelgard out of her head and enjoy the victory. It was exciting and relieving to be down with the war, but with the new information about Those Who Slither in the Dark, the war didn't feel fully over yet. Byleth knew that Claude wasn't going to drag the entire new country into the battle with them, he kept it between those he trusted most as to not worry the people and it hung heavy in the back of the minds of those who knew the fighting was not over yet. 

Byleth found herself leaving the feast early. A tiredness hit Byleth as she made her way to Dimitri's tent. She wasn't surprised that he was there instead of celebrating with everyone else, instead just sitting with his back leaning against the cot set up in his tent. Words weren't exchanged as Byleth walked over to him, falling to the ground next to him and burying her face into the crook of his neck. His arms wrapped tightly around her and she finally felt herself start to cry silent tears. She felt a year hit her shoulder before Dimitri moved to press his face into her shoulder as well. Both offering a gentle comfort as they shared in each other's sorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Sorry it's taken me a bit longer to get this chapter out there, I'm actually in the middle of moving (aye thanks COVID for making life difficult) but I still tried to find some time to write! Hopefully I will have some more time soon to write some more! Thanks for reading!!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this ones a tad short, but chapter 13 is going to be kinda like a part 2 to this chapter but its going to be ~spicy~ so I wanted it to be it's own chapter so people can skip it if they want to!

Things around Garreg Mach were… strange. Lady Rhea was back, but she was rarely seen as she was taking time to recover. Claude was slammed with work and constantly going to and from the monastery, working with the remaining lords to establish a new era of peace and unison. Many of the former students spent their days waiting for new information regarding Shambala and Those Who Slither in the Dark. Byleth kept herself busy, either gathering information from Rhea, training and teaching, or passing time with Dimitri, her personal favorite of the three activities. Two and a half weeks have passed since they defeated the Empire. For the most part, everyone seemed to be willing to cooperate, the only trouble was a small rebellion from the far south, but Claude made quick work of stopping it. 

Byleth was startled by a knock on her door. Byleth pondered who it could be as she set aside the book she was reading to get the door. It was early afternoon, which meant Dimitri was busy training cavalry. Typically Byleth would help out, but she took the afternoon off to rest for once. It could be Felix wanting to spar or maybe Marianne wanted to go for a horseback ride. 

Byleth opened the door and smiled. “Well, there’s a face I haven’t seen in a while.”

“Hey Teach.” Claude flashed his signature smile before giving an over the top bow. “May I steel thee away for an afternoon? Or perhaps it would be too scandalous, a duke and his former professor, running off after ending a war!”

Byleth laughed. “Well, you’re in a good mood. Why are you back so early? I thought you were out until the end of the week.” 

“Well, things went differently than expected. But, seriously, are you busy at the moment? I’d like to have a talk.” His expression fell into a more serious one.

“Not at the moment, no. What’s on your mind?”

Claude motioned for her to follow him and Byleth quickly gathered herself before following him. They had idle small-talk as they walked, catching up with each other. They eventually found themselves atop the wall, looking out into a field next to Garreg Mach. Normally people weren’t allowed up there, but Claude was able to sneak them up there. The sun was warm and a nice cool breeze blew every now and then.

There was a lull in the small talk and Claude’s face fell. Byleth could tell he was going over something in his head. She waited patiently for him to speak, enjoying the company of a good friend.

“Byleth. I trust your opinions and ideas more than anyone else’s in all of Fodlan. That’s why I wanted to discuss something with you.” 

“What is on your mind?”

“I have some news, no one else knows yet and I trust you will keep this confidential, but I’m not staying in Fodlan. I mean, I’m not leaving just yet. Not until those bastards in Shambala are dealt with, but after that… I’m going back to Almyra. Some of the trips I have been taking lately have been there. Byleth I can’t rest until both countries are changed for the better. And while Fodlan has it fair share of problems, Almyra does as well and I can’t rest until I see my dream of a world united, or at least our world. I have an opportunity right now to claim the Almyran throne and stop the invasion of Fodlan. To bring peace and help open the borders.” He paused to rub his palms over his face. “I got a bit carried away there. Sorry.” 

Byleth wasn’t sure how to react. Claude seemed exhausted, but he never stopped, never took a break. Here he was, wanting to take over another country, but Byleth believed in him, saw his good heart and intentions and fully supported him. “That’s a lot Claude, but I believe you of all people are more than capable. I’ll miss you, but know that you have my full support.”

“Thank you. I didn’t just ask you up here to only tell you I’m leaving though. When I’m gone, Fodlan will need a leader. Someone who will lead the people on the right path. Someone who will be a strong ruler but also someone who will care for their people and guide them to end discrimination and to open minds. I have someone who comes to mind when I think of who that person should be, but I need to talk it over with you first. I want Dimitri to become King of Fodlan.”

“Dimitri?”

“Yes. You know him more than anyone. Is he up for the task now? He’s done excellent work in the army. His leadership skills are incredible and his new morals and way of life demand respect. The lords would follow him and he’s strong enough to deal with any criticism thrown his way.”

Byleth thought about it for a moment before nodding. “Yes, I think he would make an excellent king.”

* * * 

“Stop moving around so much.” Byleth said, annoyed. “I’m almost finished.”

Dimitri let out an exaggerated sigh in response, but did his best to remain still. Byleth finished up braiding his hair back, pulling it to meet up at the back of his head to form the ponytail he had started to wear. She put his eye patch back on for him before moving to sit next to him on the edge of the doc. 

“How’s it look?” He asked.

“It looks great! I haven’t braided in a while, but my skills came back quickly.” 

He reached out to pull her hand into his own, resting them on his thigh. They had gotten up early that morning to sneak over to the dock before anyone else was up, watching the sunrise together. They tried to make it a point to find time to relax together and distress. 

Dimitri leaned over to rest his head on Byleth’s shoulder, talking low in her ear. “I could really use a cup of coffee this morning.” 

“I agree with that, but the dining hall isn’t serving breakfast yet. Do you have any in your room?”

“No. You?”

“Nope.”

They both sighed and Dimitri planted a kiss against Byleth’s neck before sitting up again. A couple more minutes passed before Dimitri mentioned having some weapons maintenance to get done before starting the day. Byleth also mentions some preparations she needs to do before lecturing and they both agreed that their morning meeting had sadly come to an end.

They both got up, taking a moment to share an embrace. They walked to the end of the dock and Dimitri pulled Byleth to face him once more, stealing a long kiss before heading off. 

Byleth smiled after him, feeling a bit giddy. Dimitri had become more affectionate over the past two weeks, still every time they kissed, Byleth couldn’t help but feel like a silly school girl swooning after her crush. 

“My, my, professor. Here I was thinking you were busy trying to get information during your busy work days but in reality you were off wooing Dimitri.” Hilda teased Byleth as she walked over from the dorms with Marianne.

“I’m not wooing Dimitri.” Byleth said defensively, crossing her arms.

“Um, professor.” Marianne spoke. “If you aren’t wooing Dimitri then perhaps you are implying you already have?” 

Byleth ignored the blush spreading across her face. “Marianne! I expect Hilda to tease me, but you as well?”

“So out with it, professor. You and Dimitri are dating aren’t you? I mean it’s pretty obvious, the two of you are always around each other and we just saw him kiss you!” Hilda seemed a bit too eager. 

"I don't see why Dimitri's and my relationship status affects you in any way so why are you so interested in it?" Byleth felt oddly defensive about the topic, deciding not to question why.

"I mean, it  _ doesn't _ , but Dimitri is a total catch, not to mention you are as well. The two of you are a perfect match! Plus I'd like to say I've gotten to know you pretty well, professor, and no one makes you smile quite like Dimitri."

"I think it's quite cute, professor." Marianne adds with a small chuckle. "You shouldn't be ashamed to admit that you and Dimitri are a couple. I remember how many times he checked in on you when you were injured. It was very sweet."

At this point, Byleth's entire face was a bright red. She never liked to draw attention to herself and was a more private and reserved person. "Ok. Fine. Dimitri and I are dating. Are you happy now?"

Hilda proceeded to tease Byleth while Marianne offered her support and Byleth quickly found an excuse to get out of the conversation, going to start her day. People seemed to be in an oddly chatty mood, many of the soldiers still stationed at the monastery seemed to cast Byleth a sideways glance as she walked by. Her day was spent in political meetings in the morning and leading a class on brawling in the afternoon. She was happy to see most of her former students were there. Byleth wasn't surprised to see Dimitri among them. 

As the class continued Byleth chose to ignore the whispers between students and the looks they were giving her as she taught. After a brief period of lecturing about the focus of the lesson, they moved on to practicing. She had everyone team up in pairs, surprised when Hilda rushed over to team up with Dimitri, she almost always would team up with someone who would go easier on her. Byleth walked around observing the pairs, stepping in to make some corrections, like to help Sylvain's stance or advise against Leonie's more rash punches. Her last group to observe was Hilda and Dimitri. Something seemed off about Dimitri as he was fighting, he seemed very flustered and agitated, reminding Byleth of when they fought at Gronder field. It didn't sit well with her. Hilda was clearly winning, easily getting around Dimitri's overly aggressive attacks. He wasn't even trying to protect himself anymore, leaving his chest and face wide open. Byleth asked them to pause and walked over to Dimitri.

"Are you feeling ok?" She asked him, a little concerned.

"Yes. I am just fine." It was clear he was pissed, nostrils flaring and speaking between heavy breaths. 

"Ok then, just making sure." She gave him a small smile and proceeded to advise him to keep his core protected. He was only half paying attention to her, glaring at something over her shoulder, so she guided his arms to the right spot herself. She jumped a bit when he ripped his arms out of her grasp and stepped back, exclaiming "Do not touch me." She felt a pain in her heart and pushed aside her emotions, cutting her advice short and moving on to teach the rest of the lesson. 

After wrapping up, she wasted no time heading back to her room. Getting there and plopping on her bed after locking her door. She couldn't stop replaying Dimitri moving away from her like he did. It reminded her of those long couple of months he was aggressive and lost. She couldn't help but worry about him, wanting to go to him and see what was wrong, but first she needed to deal with her own emotions. She let herself cry for a bit, feeling a bit childish. After a few minutes she started to feel better, but still a bit down. 

There was a knock on the door, stirring Byleth out of her thoughts. She started to make her way to the door. 

"Byleth?" Dimitri's voice called out, causing her to pause. She wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to talk with him at the moment. "Hey, By… I know you're in there. I need to speak with you… if that's ok." After hearing his voice sound so sad, she immediately went to open the door. 

He stood feebly before her, looking down at the ground. She gestured for him to enter and he did, both of them sitting on the edge of Byleth's bed. She waited for him to speak.

"I wanted to apologize for earlier. I was angry and not thinking straight, I didn't mean to upset you, but I clearly have." He gently placed a hand on her thigh. 

“It’s ok Dimitri.” Byleth replied, gently placing her hand on his cheek. “It just reminded me of when we first found you… did something happen? You were really upset.”

A light blush sprouted across Dimitri’s cheeks and he cast his gaze to the floor. “Well… How do I bring this up? I’ve overheard people talking about ‘us’ and well Hilda was egging me on and claiming that I was your boyfriend and that we were dating and she added in a few more things I won’t repeat. Byleth I have a question.”

Byleth looked at him, putting off questioning him about why that made him upset until after she heard everything he had to say.

“Are we dating?” He gave her a look of genuine question and concern.

“I would assume so… I mean you do kiss me and we hang out a lot and we both like each other and that’s what dating is like… right?” 

Dimitri looked down at his lap and swallowed hard before speaking. “I do not feel I deserve the title. I am nothing but bad news and complications. I’ll only make you sad-”

“Dimitri.” Byleth had both of her hands cupping his cheeks now and she gently pulled his face up to look at her. “I know you have some mental stuff you need to sort out and that things will not always be easy, but I’m here for you, no matter what. The way I feel about you and when I’m with you is something I’ve never felt with anyone else. You are an incredible man, one more than worthy of love and I would be more than honored to be the one to give that to you, if you’ll have me.” She gave him a sheepish smile.

“So are we officially together then?”

“Yeah. We are.” She moved her face closer to his, his arms wrapping around her back and pulling her close to him.

“Are you sure, Byleth? Even with all my problems?” His voice was breathing and he kept glancing from her eyes to her lips.

“Even with everything. I am positive.”

With that their lips pressed together and Byleth slid her hands into his hair, messing up his ponytail even further. 


	13. Le Smut

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! This chapter is literally just a smut. If you are not comfortable reading that kind of thing or just don't want to, that is completely fine! I made sure to keep it separate so that it is 100% skippable and will not effect the plot at all! Other than that enjoy these two nerds trying to figure out how to ~do the do~

It didn’t take long before the kiss started to become more heated. Dimitri moved his mouth harshly against Byleth’s, teeth knocking into each other as their tongues intermixed. They broke apart for a moment, both of them breathing heavily and searching each other's eyes. 

“Byleth… how far do you want to take this?” Dimitri asked, searching her eyes almost desperately.

“As far as you want to.” She replied, giving him a smile.

Dimitri flushed. “Um… well I want to go… you know. All the way… are you sure?”

“Not to be that person, but one or both of use could end up dead after Shambala. We have no idea what to expect, how hard the fight will be. I don’t want any regrets and I want to share everything with you. We only have a short amount of time left until we go, so let’s make the most of it.” 

Dimitri didn’t need to hear anymore and his lips crashed against hers, kissing her hungrily. She involuntarily moaned into the kiss, overwhelmed in a good way. He forced Byleth to fall back against the mattress, pressing his chest down onto hers. 

“Gods, I’ve been thinking about this for far too long.” He breathed into her neck before planting kisses across it. He shuddered as he felt Byleth's hands glide up his back underneath his shirt. They made out for a while, taking their time exploring each other’s bodies with shaky hands, both timid at first. 

Dimitri sat up to remove his shirt, throwing it off to the side somewhere. Byleth’s breath hitched in her throat as she moved one of her hands up his torso, gliding over man scars and his toned muscles. His hands fumbled with the bottom of her shirt and she sat up a bit as well, letting him pull the shirt over her head. His gaze wandered over her now exposed torso, drinking in the view before he leaned down to press a kiss on the exposed part of her breast that poked out from her bra. It didn’t take him long before his hands slid to her back, fumbling around with the clasp of her bra. He couldn’t quite get it at first and let out a frustrated growl. Byleth giggled at him, about to help him when she heard a tearing sound as her bra fell away. His mouth returned to her breasts and was joined in by his hands messaging them. Byleth’s face became quite flushed both from Dimitri’s touch and how aroused he had become, feeling his erection pressing against her.

She gently pushed at Dimitri so that he was sitting up and slid to sit beside him, her thigh resting on his. She felt a pang of nerves as she moved to undo his pants and slip them off with his assistance, hearing Dimitri’s breath get a bit rugged for a few seconds. He looked over at her and she leaned forward to kiss him, moving to his ear and asking, “Are you still doing good?”

“Oh gods yes. How about you?”

She nodded and turned her attention to the bulge that had formed in his undergarments. Her face had become red again, as well as Dimitri’s, and she felt even more nervous as she carefully pulled down his underwear. Truth be told she was a bit scared as she had only a vague idea of what to do. Once his underwear was off she could help but take a few seconds to look him over. While she had seen him naked when she took care of him, this was a very different context and view to take in. His dick seemed a lot bigger now that it was erect, though it had seemed large before that anyway, and he couldn’t stop looking at her with lust in his eyes. She got a burst of bravery and reached her right hand out to grasp at his length, taking hold a bit too firmly which caused Dimitri to involuntarily wince. She tugged her hand around a bit awkwardly, trying not to let her lack of confidence get the better of her. Dimitri squirmed a bit uncomfortably a few minutes before asking, “Uh, Byleth… have you ever done this before?” He felt a little bad for asking and a bit guilty as her face fell and she immediately removed her hand and looked down at the floor.

“Well… no. You're the first guy I’ve ever been with so…” Her face was bright red with embarrassment.

“Hey, it's ok.” Dimitri called out and moved an arm reassuringly across her back. “I’m not trying to embarrass you or call you out. I’ve never been with anyone either. Maybe I can… uh.. Show you what to do?” 

She took a deep breath and looked up at him, giving him a nod. He gently reached out for her hand and guided it back to his dick, this time wrapping his hand around hers. He started to move his hand like he normally would during his nights alone, giving Byleth a few pointers about what felt right to him, such as a twisting motion around the head. He tried his best to not feel too embarrassed explaining everything and soon enough Byleth was moving on her own, an involuntary moan escaping from Dimitri. Every now and then he would call out a bit of direction, such as “faster” and soon enough he could feel himself quickly approaching his climax.

“Hng… Byleth… Ahh… Wait.”

She immediately stopped and looked up at him with concern in her eyes. “Is everything ok?”

Dimitri was panting and took a second to recover his breath. “Yeah, everything is very good. I just don’t want to finish quite yet. Not until the real fun begins.” He gave her a little wink and Byleth felt like she could pass out on the spot in the best way. 

He moved her back against the mattress once more and together they removed her pants and underwear, leaving the both of them completely naked. He captured her mouth with his and she felt the tip of penis rest against her entrance before she called out for him to wait. 

“My turn to offer some guidance. I… uh.. Need some preparation first. I’ve never had anything that big inside of me before and I’m a bit nervous.”

“Shit, I’m sorry Beloved.” They both paused to look at each other and Dimitri flushed. They hadn’t used very many, if any, nicknames for each other and he had definitely never used that one before. “Sorry that just kinda slipped out… I uh didn’t-”

She cut him off with a kiss. “It’s cute, call me that all you want. Back to the matter at hand, do you want some help as well?”

“Yeah…” 

She gathered up some pillows to lean her back against and spread apart her legs before him. She ignored any and all shame and embarrassment and slid her hands down her body to her thighs. “Take one of your hands and slide it over me.” 

He did just that and it caused Byleth to whimper ever so slightly. “Now take a finger and move it like this.” She brought a hand to her clit and rubbed a few small circles over it before moving aside to let Dimitri give it a go. He did as she instructed and Byleth bit at her lip. Sure his movements were clumsy and a bit rough but it felt great. She started to feel very warm and wished for more. 

“Dima.” She called out and Dimitri cocked his head at her. She wasn’t the only one getting a new nickname today. “Can you slide a finger from your other hand in me?” She asked, covering her face with her hands unconsciously from embarrassment. 

“Hmmm… I may be able to if you move away those hands so I can see your beautiful face, my love.” She reluctantly obeyed and moved her hands over to glide around his arms. A finger from his left hand slid into her very slowly and carefully. It took him a while to move any faster than slow and he paid very close attention to how Byleth responded, eventually setting a pretty decent pace that matched up with his other hand circling her clit. Soon he was brave enough to add in a second finger, earning praise from Byleth. In no time he rushed to add in a third finger, enjoying the way Byleth let out little noises from the added second finger. It hurt a little but soon enough Byleth was used to it and welcomed the extra digit, quickly becoming ready for more.

“I’m ready. Ready for you.” She called out and she felt her walls clamp down against his fingers at the mental image. Dimitri gave a nod and slowly removed his fingers, gliding them over his dick unconsciously as he moved himself to be in line with her. 

He pressed his mouth against hers as he slid in a couple inches, pulling back to search her face as she cried out and dug her nails into his back. “Are you okay?” He bit back a groan from being even partially inside of her.

She nodded and spoke into his neck as she buried her face there. “Yeah. I’m ok, it just hurts a little. Move slowly.” 

He tried his best to move slow, sinking in about half way before pausing until her grip on his back eased up. Another small nod against his neck and he was moving again, pausing once more when her nails dug painfully into his back, he could also feel her teeth biting into his shoulder a bit, the pain making his dick twitch a little as well as the lewd noises escaping from her mouth. After she relaxed once more he pushed himself all the way in, taking every bit of his self control not to start pounding into her.

Byleth felt so stretched out as she buried her face into Dimitri’s neck. Part of her was worried the pain would stick around as she grasped at his back, gripping onto his for support and very much appreciating that he was letting her. She started to get used to the feeling of him inside of her before she asked him to move a little bit. He slid out and back in a couple inches, slowly, and Byleth started to feel pleasure wash over her at his movements. 

After a few minutes Byleth had relaxed back against the pillows and Dimitri had moved to kiss along her neck. His hips twitched forward a bit faster, causing both of them to moan and Dimitri carefully started to consciously move a bit faster, both of them climbing up to cloud nine. Soon he was moving in and out of her roughly at a pretty quick speed, both of them a moaning mess. She moved a hand down to start circling her swollen bud, but Dimitri pushed away her hand and took over the job, moving a couple fingers in rough quick circles that had Byleth calling out. Her hips started to move to meet his and her back was arching up.

“Dimitri!” She cried out, feeling her orgasm approaching her. He groaned and bit into her neck at the sound of his names spilling from her lips in such a lewd fashion. He brought his unoccupied hand to grope at her breasts. She didn’t last much longer before her legs wrapped tightly around his upper thighs and her hands grasped desperately at the sheets of her bed as her orgasm ripped through her body, clamping down hard on Dimitri. 

He let out a loud moan as the added stimulation sent him toppling over the edge as well, his hips jerking violently against hers. They both came down from their highs and pressed their foreheads together, panting. He carefully pulled out of her after a couple seconds and collapsed beside her. He pulled her over in a tight embrace as they lay there together, both completely caught in a trance from one another.


	14. Chapter 14

Byleth swallowed hard as they continued further underground in the dark tunnel, the only source of light from torches. The small elite team consisting of the top ranking soldiers of the military followed after Claude, who led the way. He carried himself as if he wasn’t nervous, but Byleth could tell that his arm shook ever so slightly as he held his torch up. She was off to his right and Dimitri on his left, as had become the new formation. The three of them leading the team, most of which were her former students, the only ones not present were those few who left the empire and still recovering from the war, who were Bernadetta and Dorthea. She had noted that many of the other Black Eagles were missing, she could only recall the death of Hubert who would not be swayed to leave the empire, the rest were unclear if they had died during a battle or managed to escape with only injuries. All of the Golden Deer and Blue lions marched with her into the underground, as well as former teachers and knights. Byleth broke formation to move closer to Dimitri to grasp his hand. He squeezed it reassuringly and she squeezed back, knowing he would appreciate the reassurance as well. 

Claude paused for a moment as a giant door appeared ahad of them, glowing a strange greenish blue light. They marched forward, an eerie quite falling over the place. The door was surprisingly easy to push open and they stepped into what appeared to be a rather large room, an aerie unnatural light filled the place. They filed in, cautiously, the nerves running high throughout the soldiers present. They decided to split into two teams, one going right and the other left. Dimitri and Byleth led the left team while Claude led the right team. Soon enough they stumbled upon an enemy and then all hell broke loose. 

The battle was intense, Those Who Slither in the Dark seemed to have an immense amount of knowledge in regards to magic. As the fighting raged on, the central room caught Byleth’s attention. She signaled to Claude to pay attention to the mysterious room and devised a plan. First was to clear out any enemies outside the room, then approach the room and go from there. She gave out the command and fell into the lull of battle. 

She kept a close eye on those around her, noting when a person got nicked too many times and needed to pull back for healing. Sylvain was hit in his shin and Byleth ordered him to fall back temporarily. Raphael also took a substantial stab to his right shoulder and Byleth pulled him back, filling in the gap he left on the front line. She also kept a close eye on Dimitri, though truth be told, he didn’t need it. He was almost untouchable in battle, the rage that once burned like an out of control fire now was hot embers, stirring his spear into controlled action. He could take on many different enemies at once and barely break a sweat. 

Once all the enemies were taken care of, their group met up with Claude’s and together they opened the center room, using a couple keys they had found while battling. They charged in, caught off guard by a sweeping boom that shook the whole underground city. They faced Thale and brought him to his demise quickly. Relief flooding those there when he was defeated. Finally, they were at peace. 

As they marched out of the underground, Byleth did a quick once over of everyone, seeing who was injured and making sure everyone was there. She was relieved that everyone was present, but too many people were badly hurt. Felix had a serious magical burn across his entire left arm, Ignatz suffered from a broken left leg, Lysithea had a gash across her entire back, the list continued on to too many people, but no one was dead. Byleth reminded herself that that is what was important.

When they got back to Garreg Mach, Byleth did her usual, helping everyone get where they needed to be, unload food and other supplies, and offer a hand with the medics. It wasn’t till late that everything was done and she heard that Claude had thrown a feast in celebration of the end of the war. Everyone who could physically make it was going there and Byleth decided that it was about time for a break from working.

She could hear the festivities taking place before she entered the dining hall. She was hit by an amazing aroma and realized just how hungry she was. She made her way to the server counter, stopping to cheerfully great former students who were there. Everyone was bursting with energy, even if bandages covered everyone. 

After getting a plate of food, she looked around, wondering if her boyfriend had decided to show. Her heart still pinged with emotion to think that Dimitri was her actual boyfriend, it felt almost surreal in the best way. She spotted him off in a back corner at a table with Claude, Hilda, Marianne, and Ingrid. Claude seemed to have gotten a bit too into the ale, he had his arm thrown around Dimitri’s shoulders and was dramatically telling him something. Ingrid, Hilda, and Marianne were all laughing at him and Dimitri was staring down at the table with a solemn.

“Ah! Teach! The woman of the hour! You know back when I first met you I had a feeling you would be important, and look at you now, my friend!” Claude exclaimed. “To think you and this handsome fella right here would be going steady.” He patted Dimitri on the chest. “Well I saw it coming of course, back in the school days the little princling couldn’t shut up about good old Teach!”

“Geez Claude, do you ever shut up.” Hilda said. “Care to join us?”

“Certainly, though I may have to kick Claude out the table if he keeps groping my man like that.” Dimitri gave Byleth a mortified look and Claude laughed, playfully squeezing one of Dimitri’s pecs. Dimitri smacked his hand away, a flush across his cheeks. 

“Byleth, I swear to you that it was nothing. Claude is just a friend. I would never betray you.” Dimitri slurred his speech when he spoke. 

“I see you also dipped deep into the ale, Dimitri.” Byleth teased. 

“Oh yeah, those two definitely have, although I’m not one to talk, I’m right there with them! I’m just a more graceful drunk.” Ingrid exclaimed. “This little lady though.” She pointed to Hilda. “She can hold her liquor.” 

“Oh please, you falter me! I am sure it’s noticeable on me as well.” Hilda responded.

Marianne giggled at that and Byleth ate her meal, Claude continued to go on about something or another and Dimitri constantly reassured Byleth of his devotion for her. Byleth had to calm him down a few times because the poor man was working himself up into almost crying. Ingrid and Hilda got into an arm wrestling contest and the two of them both won twice. Marianne mostly kept quiet and observed the chaos around her.

Claude had been moving his attention from person to person, but had always seemed to return to Dimitri. “I’ll let you in on a little secret!” 

“Ok.” Dimitri replied in a small voice.

“Cheer up! Tonight's a celebration! Buuuuut that little thing I want to tell you.” Claude leaned really close to Dimitri and said something into his ear, which caused Dimitri to blush very hard.

“Claude, what did you say to him?” Byleth asked, growing tired of him picking on Dimitri.

“Ask him yourself.” Claude replied with a mischievous look.

Byleth looked over at Dimitri who gave her a pathetic look. He leaned over to her and whispered in her ear, “Claude said that my boobs were bigger than Hilda’s.” Byleth rubbed her palm over her face, growing even more tired of Claude’s antics. Dimitri was staring down at the table with one of his hands subconsciously on his chest. When he reached out to drink more ale, Byleth gently took it from him, “I think you’ve had quite enough for one night.” He gave her a sad expression. “Besides, it's getting late and we should get some sleep, it’s been a long day.” 

She stood up and pulled Dimitri up with her, who was silently compliant. “Good night everyone! Don’t drink too much, you’ll regret it tomorrow.”

They all wished them a goodnight as well and Claude moved on to pester Ingrid about who knows what. Byleth led Dimitri towards her room, as it was on the bottom floor and he required some assistance walking in a straight line. She tried to say a few things to him, simple small talk about the stars or a cat she glimpsed, but he stayed silent. When they arrived at her door, she unlocked it and then stepped inside, but Dimitri stayed in the doorway.

“Dima.” Byleth called out to him without looking back, expecting him to enter. “Dimitri.” She turned around after he refused to walk in. “Come inside, you will let bugs in.”

“It would be improper for me to enter a lady’s room at night before we are married.” He wouldn’t look up from the ground.

“You’re joking, right? Dima, we’ve slept in the same bed many times, one of them we even had sex.”

“I know, and it is shameful behavior. As a nobleman and a gentleman I should have shown better self control and respect for someone I love so dearly.” 

Byleth sighed, it was going to be a long night. “Dima, literally only you care about that. Not even sober you cares. Now come inside.” She grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the room, closing the door. He stood where she left him, a massive deep red blush across his face. Byleth walked over to stand in front of him, thinking for a moment.

“You are truly an amazing woman.” He said to her quietly, placing his hands clumsily on the sides of her face. “I would be dead without you. You are so perfect. I am nothing in comparison to you, a beautiful sunshine while I'm a dim candle.” 

“Dimitri, you are amazing too.” She smiled up at him.

He leaned down and kissed her sloppily, tasting of alcohol. He pulled and looked down at her, tears forming in his eyes.

“Dimitri, don’t cry.” Byleth said, wiping away a few fallen tears with her thumbs. 

“I love you so much. Every time I see you my heart feels like it will explode. I love you so much.” That caused him to cry some more. 

“You need to get some sleep, let’s lay down.” He just nodded and let her lead him over to the bed, falling down on it. He closed his eyes almost immediately and Byleth looked him over, shaking her head with a smile. She quickly changed into her pajamas and blew out the candle before making her way to the bed.

“Dimitri, I need to sleep too. Can you move over?” He groaned and rolled over. “Are you going to sleep in that? You’ll get hot.” 

He sat up and threw his shirt off and ungracefully kicked his pants off. After stripping he plopped down, partially falling on Byleth so that his head rested on her shoulder and his chest across hers. It knocked the wind out of her, but she let him stay there and gently ran her fingers through his hair as they drifted to sleep.

* * *

The next day was filled with headaches, but also an excited buzz. There was talk about who was heading where, what people’s post war plans were. Byleth was kept busy in the infirmary, helping those injured like she often would after battles. She kept thinking back to the morning, giggling a bit to herself. She had woken up before Dimitri and gently shook him awake. He let out a groan and rolled over onto his back, complaining about the early morning sunlight. Byleth had laughed at him and left him to slowly get up. Around lunch she had spotted Dimitri walking by with Claude, they seemed to be heading somewhere and were too focused on their conversation to notice Byleth, so she let them be. After grabbing some lunch with Marianne and Mercedes, Byleth decided to help with weapons maintenance, chatting with Felix and Lorenz. 

Byleth greeted Dimitri with a smile as he walked in, he appeared to be deep in thought. He strolled over to her and kissed her forehead absentmindedly. Felix rolled his eyes and went back to cleaning an axe. 

“Hey, Byleth. Can I steal you for a moment?” Dimitri asked her.

“Yeah, sure.” She replied, sensing that Dimitri needed to talk about something.

Byleth excused herself and let Dimitri lead her away to the greenhouse for a chat. No one else was there and there were some beautiful flowers blooming at the moment, setting a pretty scene. They sat down on a bench that had been moved in there recently. 

“Claude and I were just talking.” Dimitri started out. “He told me he has plans on leaving Fodlan, going to help Almyra. That means he won’t be here to rule, so he asked me to be king once more.” 

Byleth nodded, giving him some time to think. He seemed conflicted, staring down at the ground. “What did you say?”

“I- At first I declined. But Claude and I talked about it some more and he reminded me of an old feeling I used to have, though I doubt he realized it. There’s a short of pride I had at being Prince, being able to follow in my father’s footsteps. I was named king for a while during the war and I was awful. I cared about no one and treated lives as worthless, as long as I got my idea of violent revenge. I owe it to everyone I wronged to step up to my past mistakes. To be better than I once was, but do I really deserve that chance?”

Byleth smiled up at him and cupped his cheek with one of her hands. “Dimitri, you will make a wonderful king. You have grown so much and you truly are a good man, one I am very proud of.”

“I would be nothing but a shell of a man if it weren’t you, my beloved.” He leaned down to kiss her softly. “Claude convinced me to say yes after a while and part of me is jumping with joy while the other half is terrified I’ll mess everything up.”

“Dimitri, I am sure you will be fine. You have my support.”

“Byleth, can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Maybe it’s a bit early and maybe I might sound crazy, but when I picture myself as king, it feels off unless you are there as well. As my queen.” He searched her eyes for an inclination of her response.

“Dimitri, what are you asking?” She responded, not believing she was interrupting things correctly. Her as a queen, she felt apprehensive at the title, but that would also mean her and Dimiri would…”

“I’m asking you to marry me, Byleth. I love you, with all of my heart, and you are an amazing woman, one I can't picture myself without. I don’t deserve you, but I’m asking anyway.”

“I- Dimitri!” She smiled up at him, pulling him into a hug. It felt surreal, but she felt in her heart that it was right. “Yes. I was thinking about giving you a ring my dad left me, he said give it to someone I love and my only thoughts were of you.” 

She pressed a kiss to his lips and he returned it. When she pulled back and opened her eyes, Dimitri had a grin across his face. He pulled her into another kiss and they felt like they were both on cloud nine.

* * *

The month passed by filled with politics and figuring things out. Soon news slipped out that Dimitri and Byleth were engaged and everyone was excited for them, telling them congratulations. Claude gave an announcement that Dimitri was to be crowned king in a month and everyone went wild with cheering and support. Everything seemed to be going great, Fodlan was filled with excitement and potential. For once, everyone seemed to be getting along.

It was towards the end of the month and Byleth was meeting with Claude, Dimitri, and Lady Rhea, discussing what to do with the church. Lady Rhea was expressing an exhaustion with being archbishop and was asking Byleth to take over for her. Both Dimitri and Claude supported the idea though Byleth was hesitant to agree.

During the middle of the discussion a messenger boy burst into the room, looking wide eyed and scared. 

“Duke Reigan.” He addressed Claude, who looked at him puzzled. “There is an army marching this way. They are armed to the teeth and have destroyed a small village nearby, the local army was slaughtered. They are being lead by a grey haired man with a sword like Lady Byleth’s!”

Everyone went pale and Lady Rhea almost fainted. 

“How far away are they?” Claude asked.

“Two days travel at most, could be here tomorrow if they rush.”

They all looked at each other, worried. Lady Rhea clutched Byleth’s arm and she turned to look at her as Lady Rhea spoke.

“I know this man. His name is Nemesis.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing that battle scene was so hard for some reason, I hope it wasn't too bad  
> Also only one more chapter left :( I'm going to miss this


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :( The last chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel the need to start out with an apology. I thought I had posted the last chapter but it turns out I completely forgot to. It has been far too long since I last updated, I kinda was putting off writing the last chapter and it ended up with me forgetting about this fic completely. I feel so bad and would like to give everyone a sincere thank you for sticking with this and an apology that it has been so long.

There was a strange quiet that fell over Garreg Mach as everyone anxiously waited. Byleth bit at her lip as she fumbled with the engagement ring around her finger, eyes scanning the horizon in search for the approaching enemy. It was the second day after they had received news of the approaching Nemesis. Lady Rhea had given them a quick rundown of all she knew about the man, but it still didn’t seem like enough information to quell the anxiety that filled Byleth, making her stomach turn.

Byleth jumped a bit as someone touched her shoulder, but relaxed as she realized it was Dimitri. He gave her a tired smile and turned to keep scanning as well. They were on the front lines of the army stationed outside of the walls of the church village. She and Dimitri were leading this group, a few of her students along with her as well, while Claude was working with Seteth on the other side of the church. 

Within the hour a tall enemy flag peaked its way into the horizon and Byleth watched as the upcoming army approached. It was relatively small, but the soldiers seemed old and decrepit in a way that was intimidating. What was more unnerving was the crest that was on the enemy flag, Byleth didn’t believe her eyes at first, waiting for it to get closer for a proper look. Sure enough it was the Crest of Flames… her crest. Byleth and Dimitri looked at each other confused, sure Lady Rhea had mentioned the enemy was someone she had fought long ago, but she hadn’t mentioned anything to do with Sothis, at least not yet. 

When the enemy was within range, the battle began. It was quite intense, with Claude’s force coming around to attack from the side. The army seemed to be almost mindlessly following Nemesis’s orders, notably there were ten commanders in play, each wearing a different Crest. They fought mercilessly, causing many casualties among the lower ranking soldiers. Byleth led a special force to break through the middle to find their way directly to Nemesis while Dimitri and Claude focused on directing the army towards killing the commanders. Byleth fought a long hard battle with Nemesis, noticing that his power was somehow linked with the commanders of the army, as he got weaker when more were defeated. Felix and Lysithea were there to help her fight and keep more enemies away as Byleth focused.

There was a low president aching in Byleth’s body. She stood tall as the battlefield fell silent, Nemesis’s head rolling away from his now limp body. They had won. It was finally over. Most of the remaining enemy soldiers were already dead, those still alive were quickly taken care of. Byleth let someone else worry about that as she made her way back through the battlefield, her mind only focusing on one thing right now. 

She searched around, trying not to let doubt and panic take over her mind and was quickly relieved to find Dimitri alive and safe, currently helping carry the wounded. Byleth rushed over, partially to be close to her betrothed, but also to help out as well. Dimitri noticed her and made a quick and brief eye contact, sharing a smile. 

A small knock stirred Byleth awake. She felt groggy, a strong arm around her waist keeping her from sitting up. Then the knock sounded again and Dimitri stirred beside her as well. She gingerly lifted his arm and reluctantly left the warm luxurious sheets to get the door. 

She squinted into the hallway, seeing a messenger boy, who blushed slightly at seeing Byleth in her nightgown. “Ah Q-Queen Byleth.” He said with a bow. “Sorry to awaken you, but King Khalid of Almyra has arrived. He asked me to tell you directly, as he was growing tired of waiting.” 

Byleth gave him a puzzled look, she had no idea Claude would be showing up anytime soon. “Thank you, tell him we will be down shortly.”

“Yes, my lady.” The boy said with another bow before scurrying off.

Byleth turned back into the door, drawing open the curtains and hearing Dimitri groan at the light while hiding his face into a pillow. Byleth walked over to him, rolling him over onto his back and planting a kiss on his lips.

“Wake up, Dima. We have a guest.”

“Who the hell is visiting us so early in the morning?”

“That, my dear, would be none other than Claude. Did you know he was coming?” Byleth asked as she started to get ready quickly.

Dimitri sat up quite grumpy to have been woken up. “No. Although I’m not surprised he just showed up unannounced. He’s lucky that I’m not casting him out onto the streets.” 

Dimitri and Byleth quickly got dressed and made themselves presentable. “Should I wake the kids?” Dimitri asked Byleth.

“Let them sleep a little longer, we can send for them in a bit.” 

Dimitri nodded and they set out, the first peaks of sunrise bouncing around the palace. As they walked towards the entryway, sounds of laughter and cheerfulness were sounding down the halls. They approached and saw that Claude was currently being kept company by their three kids. The two older ones, around eight and six years old, were hanging off of Claude’s arms as they were being lifted while their three year old was hanging on around his neck. 

Byleth giggled at the sight. “Kids, that’s quite enough. Let Uncle Claude have some space.”

“But moooommmm! Uncle Claude’s so much fun to play with!” They responded. 

Claude laughed. “Listen to your mother you guys.” The kids pouted and let go of him. “I’ll take you guys on a ride on my wyvern later, how about that?” They all enthusiastically agreed.

“King Khalid! Good to see you!” Dimitri greeted Claude.

“King Dimitri! Good to see you as well!” Their typical over the top greeting with a one armed hug to end it all. Byleth rolled her eyes.

“And my lady! Great to see you Queen Byleth!” Claude gave her a very deep bow. “Where is your expensive crown and jewelry my queen!?”

“Claude I’m going to smack you if you keep that up. You know that’s all too flashy for me.” She pulled him into a hug. “Why are you here so suddenly?” She asked him a bit anxiously.

“Nothing to cause any worry. I’m simply paying a visit, wanting to catch up after all this time. It’s maybe been a year since I’ve seen you two and I wanted a good excuse to get out for a bit. How’s everyone?”

Byleth called for some servants to set up a breakfast tea for them and they all sat down, spending some time to catch up. They talked about the former students and how and what they were doing. Felix and Sylvain had stayed close by, the two of them working closely with Dimitri, often being sent out to take care of bandits or any other problems. Dedue had stayed as Dimitri’s closets advisor and confidant, living in the palace and often found showing the kids new flowers and plants he was growing in the greenhouse. Hilda and Marianne settled down together and were said to have been working on setting up an art school. Ingrid had worked herself into being one of the most highly regarded knights, Dimitri gave her a high ranking role in the military, trusting her to make the right decisions. Ashe, Annette, and Mercedes were all reported to have been doing very well with their respective lives and quite happy. Lorenz had been given quite a big section of land, reaching from his family’s territory to south into where the Empire used to be. He seemed to be quite skilled in governing over his land. Raphael and Ignatz had bought an inn together and Byleth had visited them a few times. Ignatz always had his paintings up for sale and Raphael had learned to be an excellent cook. Leonie had returned to her hometown and started her own mercenary group, which was quickly becoming quite famous. Lysithea was last seen down south, teaching at a school of magic. Byleth had visited her there and she seemed happy to have a new passione to occupy her time.

Claude asked Byleth how the church was doing. She responded that it was quite well. She had decided against being archbishop, as being the queen was stressful enough, and had instead convinced Seteth to become head of the church. All of the members and teachers were doing well. There were rumors around about the former students of the Black Eagle class, some saying that they had fled the country while others were pleasant, claiming they had found a new life. 

As the day progressed they hung out some more, sharing laughs and telling old stories. After lunch, Claude took the kids out for a ride and to play around, leaving Dimitri and Byleth with some alone time.

They walked hand in hand around their gardens, passing by many colorful flowers and feeling the warm sunshine on their skin. Dimitri paused to have a seat on one of the benches. Byleth joined him, resting her head on his shoulder. 

“Where would I be without you?” Dimitri asked in a quiet voice. “You are my everything Byleth.”

“Dimitri.” Byleth looked over at him with a kind smile. “You are my everything as well.”

“Thank you, my beloved, for everything. For sticking by my side all these years. For loving me and helping me grow from my past mistakes and into the man I am today.”

“Dimitri, there is no need to thank me, you know I would willingly do it all again over and over if that meant you would be happy.” She pressed her lips to his. “I would love to sit here all day and talk sweet nothings to each other, but it’s getting late and poor Claude has all three of our kids.” 

“Eh, he’s fine. Stay with me a little longer, my queen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who dedicated their time to reading this! I kinda panic wrote this last chapter as I realized I never wrote it. It's been awhile since I played fire emblem / wrote on this fic, so I'm very sorry if the quality is different / worse


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